Unexpected Changes
by Yukai yami
Summary: Canada is always being mistaken for America by family and peers, but never had big problems arrised because of his 'mistaken identity'. Now he's a she thanks to England's error! He just HAD to go out drinking with the guys didn't he? Eventual Pru/fem!Can
1. Lucky Day Gone Bad

Unexpected Changes

Chapter one: Lucky day gone bad

**Disclaimer: I own nothing… Trust me, Canada would appear A LOT more if I owned anything. **

**Warnings:** OOC behavior, slight harsh language used, fail attempts at humor, fail attempt at a Hetalia story, and a really crappy way of explaining scenery ahead.

This was only one page long at first. Then I edited it and couldn't find myself to stop…Stupid Muse, making me write more…

**Words: Aprox. 1,100**

* * *

When Matthew woke up that morning, he thought that day might be a fairly good day.

There were practically zero chances for rain so he could finally set his clothes out to dry; the pancakes he made for breakfast had been exceptionally delicious; there was a 35% off all hockey items at the supermarket and after helping a young lady with her many shopping bags, she paid him back with two free bottles of maple syrup; no one had mistaken him for America yet; Canada's overall economical status was better than ever…

It was his lucky day.

Everything was actually going…well.

Until _that_ happened…

Of course, like most of his problems, it all started with his brother. Apparently, since the World Meeting was going to be in a few days, America had the _awesome and heroic_ idea that if they were all going to bore themselves to death at the meeting, they might as well be hammered and partying the nights before, just to 'even things out'.

Though America hadn't expressed his idea this way, Canada knew that was the gist of what he truly meant. So with little opposition, most if not all nations wandered over to some random, American pub since the conference would take place in Alfred's home.

America apparently invited the silent nation along so that if he was stuck paying the bill, he could ditch the place and let the Canada take the heat again. (Though it never really worked…the bartender always failed to notice Canada standing right in front of him anyways…) Canada had thought since his overall day was going so well, a few rounds with the guys wouldn't cause any harm.

It was now that he noticed how horribly and utterly_ wrong_ he was.

Sometime _after_ the drinking contest started and _before_ Spain started trying to sing mariachi songs to Lovino while swearing that his beer bottle was a seemingly broken guitar, Matthew noticed something was not _right_. His head started throbbing erratically, his vision was blurring even with his glasses on, and he felt short of breath. He knew he was still sober since he never got drunk after two and a half bottles of whiskey, so _why _did he feel so…weird? And who was that laughing a little too loudly against his right ear?

"Hahaha! You fell right into my trap!" Arthur sported a menacing (if not drunk) grin on his face as he kept laughing against Matthew's side. The young Canadian, his mind still groggy from his condition, tried his best to question his former guardian, but only managed to stumble over his own words. So he settled for a blank stare. Arthur continued with his ramble, obviously ignoring the other's condition on purpose. "You think you're so bloody _awesome _don't you, you git. Let's see how you fare against my latest concoction! This will be your fall, America!"

And Canada felt his blood boil. He was confused for his older brother _again_! This was his brother's entire fault! Well, sort of… England was the one that seemingly poured something weird in his drink. The blonde stood off the bar stool and tried to steady his posture by holding onto the table. He turned to England and was about to state his true identity, when he noticed said nation wasn't there anymore. Nope; he was passed out on the floor. It was now that Canada noticed that England was wearing that weird white angel costume of his…and from years of first-hand encounters with England in this condition from when he used to be his colony, he knew that couldn't be good news…

That's when things stopped being weird and started getting _bizarre_… Matthew's vision went white and black, like if he were watching an old TV show from the 50's; he could no longer tell if his favorite hoodie was red or grey and the edges of his vision were white. Also, the world seemed to slow down. Everything was happening slower than it should.

Italy's arms were flailing slowly and his call for Germany sounded really low and dragged out.

The tomato Romano threw to Spain was flying slowly through the air.

A bottle of wine that France accidentally brushed against was taking its time crashing into the floor.

Even Russia's signature 'Kol' laugh sounded slower and creepier than ever, and Latvia was shaking less than normal.

Then, as fast as it started, everything rushed back to its normal, multicolor speed and Canada doubled over his stool. He felt like someone punched him in the stomach, _hard_. While he tried to catch his breath again, all he could think about was what in the world could England had put in his drink that made him feel this bad.

Next thing he knew, he was clamping his mouth shut and running towards the closest bathroom.

Now here he was, slumped against one of the bathroom stool's doors after emptying everything he had consumed that day into the toilet across from him. Matthew had also passed out promptly after throwing up, but he couldn't tell for how long. He didn't dwell much on that fact, and just focused on getting his bearings together, getting out of the most likely unsanitary bathroom, stomping over to England, giving him a piece of his mind, and if possible, making a dramatic exit before heading home to sleep his exhaustion off. With any luck, there wouldn't be much traffic near the border and would be able to his closest home in Canada. He'd be driving to Manitoba, then. While the other nations already had their own hotel rooms reserved and inhabited at whatever hotel Alfred reserved for them, Matthew still hadn't moved to his, deciding he could sleep home for the little while before the meetings officially started in almost two days.

Matthew stood slowly in case he wasn't completely well again, and opened the stool door. It was now that he was noticing that his chest hurt and it was a little hard to breathe, probably side effects from suddenly throwing up and blacking out. He'd also have to tell Alfred to _not_ to act like such an ass to other people if Matthew would end up paying for his troubles. As he made his way towards the restroom door, he stopped dead on his tracks. He was suddenly scared… He didn't know if he was hallucinating (he wouldn't doubt it, with what England's misdirected prank had done to him earlier that night), but he saw something VERY wrong in front of him. Dead ahead of him, stood what he understood to be a mirror…

…So _why_ was there a different person in it, in _his_ hoodie and pants, instead of a duplicate image of the Canadian? And _why_ were they mimicking his facial expressions?

Matthew closed his eyes and rubbed them harshly with his hands, careful not to knock off his glasses in the process. He had to be imagining things. That had to be it, he wasn't ready to accept the possibility that he was going crazy and was surely loosing his sanity. He slowly opened them again, but there it was… Nothing had changed…

…_Merde_…

So, as Matthew stood there, staring himself down in the mirror in the men's bathroom at the bar, two rather simple thoughts crossed his mind.

One: no amount of free maple syrup, pancakes or hockey in the world would make him glad that he was now, somehow, a female.

Two: he was going to _kill _England.

* * *

**A/n:** Kyaa~… short chapter is short! O_O"

Not to toot my own horn, but I consider my fanfiction _ideas_ pretty awesome. My way of turning said ideas into _words_, however, not so much…

Sorry if this fic isn't on par with other **awesome fics** out there, like _"Colours"_ by Kitty29 (shameless advertising! ^^ That story is PruCan awesomeness!).

"WA! WA! Wa! World Ondo!" - Awesome song sung by Allies and Axis! Listen to it if you haven't! *Thanks to PrussiaXPrussia for the English lyrics~!*

Please Review to say how I started :D


	2. Operation Kidnap!

Unexpected Changes

Chapter two: Operation kidnap!

**A/n:** GUYS! Omigods, for realz? _**I got four reviews in ONE chapter!**_ –dies of happiness-

And all those reviews and alert/favorites I got… -on cloud 9- You make me sooo happy! And some people that alerted write Hetalia stories to which **I've** subscribed and favorite'd, so the feeling is super surreal~!

**Warnings:** OOC behaviors, slight language, fail humor, overall potential fail, and (probably) incorrect use of the French language.

**Disclaimer: Hetalia isn't mine. Neither is Google 'translate'. If I owed Hetalia, Belgium and Netherlands would've appeared **_**way**_** before episode 42 of World Series.**

**Words: Around 2,200? Not too sure...**

* * *

-Recap-

Canada's lucky day went horribly wrong and he's now a girl as a result of a prank gone wrong! As England's cruel joke for America hits Canada, what will the young nation do now with this colossal problem?

* * *

As Canada kept starring at himself (or what seemed to be _herself_) in the mirror, he tried to stop hyperventilating.

"Okay Matt… Calm down…first of all, breathe…"

Following his own advice rather well, he took several deep breaths. He proceeded to pull up the sleeves on his hoodie a little. His clothes seemed bigger than normal around his limbs, even if it felt too tight around his chest… but it _wasn't_ because of what he saw in the mirror! He wasn't crazy yet! He couldn't be; his other family members were the crazy ones. _He_ was the _normal_ one! It was already enough that Arthur could see fairies, Alfred's best friend was an alien with a vocabulary colorful enough to make a sailor blush and that Francis would tap anything with a pulse. God knows 'family nights' were canceled thanks to unruly behavior (and Francis groping Arthur two times too many); his family didn't need a gender confused Canadian as a bonus…

"Maybe I'm dreaming all of this..?"

After raising his sleeve a bit farther and roughly pinching his forearm only to feel the area throbbing in pain, he dismissed the idea.

Matthew proceeded to open the tap water and splash his face with icy cold water. After another deep breath, he took another peek at the mirror.

Sure enough, there _still_ was a dirty-blonde, long-haired female with really clear violet eyes staring back at him. She was still wearing his clothes and had a look of utter terror sprawled across her face.

'…_Merde_.'

Plan two: look for England and get him to change him back into a representation of Canada that _didn't _have certain _assets _before utterly killing and/or castrating him; not necessarily in that order.

Also, get out of the boy's bathroom. Fortunately, it seemed that no one had spotted him while inside the stool or as he freaked out. He was sure it wouldn't bode well if someone found him in there…

…As a damned _girl._

After Canada opened the bathroom's main door, the strong stench of alcohol assaulted his nose. A rather long amount of time must've passed if the smell of liquor in the air increased so drastically. When he was sure no one was paying attention, he scanned the area and made mental notes of places to avoid. Starting with the room he was still presently hiding in.

Near him, he could hear various female nations chatting and giggling loudly from inside the girl's washroom. So long as they stayed there, it wouldn't be a problem.

A few steps ahead, near the barstools, he could spot Hong Kong and China, with the later quite obviously intoxicated. This was no rare sight, as many nations knew of Hong Kong's habit of making his Asian mentor drunk enough to take various embarrassing and compromising pictures. Said images would later end up in both Hungary's and Japan's hands and Hong Kong's economical status would increase ever so slightly with China none-the-wiser.

Closer to the bar's entrance, Canada could spot Poland chatting vividly to Lithuania as Estonia typed away on his laptop. Seeing as they were the furthest away, they were the least likely to become a possible threat to his mission.

A few tables from the bathroom, he could see a small group of nations shouting and placing bets. Insults in German and Danish were being sprouted back and forth rapidly, and if he had to guess he would say Denmark and Prussia were responsible for the commotion. From the look of things, both previously mentioned nations were still participating in the drinking competition that started slightly before Arthur drunkenly confessed his 'prank'. If the challenge still wasn't over, then no more than half an hour could've passed since Matthew blacked out. Maybe his nose had been more sensitive to the scent of liquor after passing out with the harsh smell of industrial cleaning detergent.

Finally, across the room, he saw America, France and Russia, all standing in a circle, laughing and drinking while they pointed at something on the floor. The hidden nation knew they were all wasted, but probably not enough to start laughing at the carpet for no apparent reason. If his hunch (yes, hunch, he _refused_ to believe it could be woman's intuition,) was correct, England was nearby.

"Hey, Francis! Give me a color marker! I'm gonna draw a un-hero like mustache on his face! That'll keep his mind off pixies for the rest of the night~!"

Yup. England was near, and obviously unconscious.

As the semi-invisible nation stealthily made his way across the room, he tried his best to avoid any of the other nations. He crouched right next to Italy and Romano, though. He didn't have to worry about them, since they were having their siesta in a corner next to the trio he was trying to approach. Still, he needed to stay wary of the rest; it was more than likely that they were still able to form coherent thoughts…

If everyone found out Matthew was, for now, a Matilda, he was sure he'd _never_ live it down.

As Canada crouched behind a wall next to America and the others, he found England, indeed still passed out on the floor, still wearing that blasted white toga and angel wings. The only noticeable difference was that now America gave him a bizarre, _pink,_ curly mustache to go along with his outfit.

'_Why did France have a _pink_ marker on him anyways?_' He didn't give the thought a chance to distract him further and resumed thinking about more important things.

'_Now…how am I going to get England without raising suspicion?'_ Matthew thought restlessly. The foot he was using as leverage on the floor from behind the wall was starting to fall asleep. He didn't have all the time in the world, either. If he waited much longer, other nations might get interested in Arthur as well and the current trio might grow in numbers. That would be horrible for Matthew's current situation. If the crowd grew, his chances of nabbing the passed out drunk undetected would go up in flames. But America, Russia and France seemed to be enjoying themselves too much to let go of their attention on the Englishman anytime soon…What could he do?

The Canadian nation mussed, _'Well…I _am_ pretty much invisible to every seeming living thing most of the time…Maybe I can just _grab_ him and leave?'_

He was too irritated and tired to even bother thinking about an alternate plan.

* * *

Alfred was still laughing at Arthur's face along with Francis and Ivan. He totally knew his idea of going drinking was awesome! Booze and potential blackmail on Arthur: the night couldn't possibly get any better! Even the Russian's 'Kol' thing didn't seem as creepy as it usually did to him. Of course, maybe it was his current alcohol level talking. It could also be that the self-proclaimed hero was too busy laughing to really notice or care.

He did notice, however, that England was moving… no, _sliding_ away…and quite rapidly…which was _weird _because he was still knocked out; he would've been groaning and complaining about a headache if he wasn't. But unconscious, grown, British men aren't supposed to move on their own, right? He was sure there was a reason for this…

So America came to the most logical conclusion.

"Oh my god! Iggy's being pulled away by ghosts!"

Canada winced at how loud he was. His ears were slightly ringing. He threw his brother a harsh glare. _'What the hell? _Why_ had he screamed so _loud_? That's so rude! Maple, this is _exactly_ why some people attack me when they think that…I'm…Alfred…? H-huh?'_

Canada's train of thought crashed when he noticed that both France and Russia were looking straight at him…

Or _her_, in their eyes…

Now that he thought about it, _everyone_ in the bar seemed to be looking straight in their direction after Alfred's loud statement. Matthew felt a full on blush invade his face. He was pretty sure he would be able to get away with it! No one was going to notice a girl in oversized clothes pulling an unconscious grown man wearing nothing but a small, white toga and angel-looking wings across the floor…

'_Oh…'_

The entire bar was silent, looking at the humorous yet bizarre scene occurring between their fellow English nation and a mysterious girl no one had ever seen before. Matthew would've face-palmed if both his hands hadn't been around Arthur's waist, pulling him away…

And Matthew felt himself die a little on the inside.

"_Mon Dieu!_ What is this? Clearly the world must be ending if _Angleterre_ is being carried away by such a pretty little lady~!_" _exclaimed France with a mortified expression on his face.

…and Matthew felt he died just a little more.

On the bright side, the other nations seemed to have no idea that the 'little lady' was really Canada! _'There's still hope! I can still get out without anyone knowing it's me!'_

"Who the hell are you?" Alfred's voice sounded slightly disappointed. Maybe from finding out that his previous theory about the ghost dragging Arthur was wrong. His eyes seemed less glazed compared to how they were before. He was probably concentrating twice as hard to make sense of the weird scene occurring.

'_Okay Matthew,'_ he told himself, _'You can't screw this up! Think of a lie!'_ He tried to come up with something, anything, on the spot. Sadly for him, although Canada's appearance is slightly similar to America's, the younger twin wasn't as good a liar as his older brother when under pressure. "I…I-I … Uh…I…"

'_Yeah, real smart answer, Canada…'_

"Yeah?" inquired America. He looked more sober by the second, which wasn't good for Canada. If there was a god somewhere that could grant miracles, he sure as heck felt that he could use one right now!

"Can't you see, _mon cher_?" asked the French nation with a… heartbroken voice? "Eye! She wears spectacles, which must _obviously_ be broken!" Francis voice held so much confidence one would think he knew all the world's answers. "_Pauvre fille_! You must've thought dumb, old Arthur is actually appealing! You probably can't even see his monstrous eyebrows because of your flimsy glasses." Matthew could honestly say it looked like France was crying in pity… Did he think anybody besides himself simply carried away 'potential lovers' whenever they wanted? He thought the girl grabbed England because she found him hot? "You poor, tasteless girl!"

'_Maple…This is all too weird. Just shoot me now…'_ was all Canada could think at the moment.

"Hahaha…As if, old man!" interjected the hero with his trademark laugh and a knowing grin. He paused for dramatic effect and then openly pointed an accusing finger at Canada. "This is, without a doubt, one of Arthur's fairies! I mean, just _look_ at her!"

'_I just_ have_ to be right!'_ he thought, _'If my claim on the ghosts was false, then this has to be the only alternative!'_

There were many different reactions to Alfred's claim. Some simply looked away, already bored with the little oddity and continued drinking or returning the interrupted drinking contest. Other's face-palmed and called America an idiot high on hamburgers. It was kind of surprising that some nations nodded along with him, finding his claim possible. It was mostly Norway though, one of the few people that believed England's claims of leprechauns, pixies and elves. One wine and cheese loving nation, however, was appalled by the theory.

"Are you_ stupide ou quoi? _That's a completely preposterous notion! You have definitely reached your drinking quota for the day, _Amérique_! You are quite delusional," laughed Francis, ticking off Alfred.

"Don't brush me off with your fancy French and fancy big words, you dummy! She's a fairy!" his face was red, not liking that he was being ridiculed. His comments were always awesome, sober or not! Especially when they involved giant robots and contact with aliens during the World Meetings! It wasn't his fault that everyone else wasn't _heroic_ enough to see the logic in his ideas!

"Ah-ah-ah! She's just blind~"

"I said she's a fairy!"

"Yes, definitely blind, _stupide Amérique~_"

"Fairy! A-and stop insulting me in French! Insult me in my language like a man! ...Wait, what?"

As the two nations argued, Canada took the opportunity and continued dragging Arthur towards the bar's exit, glad Poland had claimed Lithuania's attention again as he talked about what color to paint his house again, although Lithuania seemed more worried about Russia's growing childlike smirk while so close to Latvia, much to the Polish nation's annoyance. Whoever hadn't stopped paying attention to them before was being distracted by Francis' and Alfred's quarrel. Even though the fight was technically about the Canadian, everyone's eyes were drawn away from his direction. If he hadn't been in his current 'condition' he might've been annoyed and more than slightly irritated that everyone had ignored him yet again. This time, he would look the other way and consider this a blessing in disguise. _'Stupid Arthur… this is all _your_ fault!'_

"My, how fun, dа? It is so nice to see them with such energy. After all," Ivan still had his happy smile on his face, "It's only a matter of time before everyone becomes one with mother Russia! Don't you think so too, Latvia~?" Ivan practically purred, looking at the shaking boy he tightly gripped by the shoulder. Estonia and Lithuania paled from a considerable distance.

"L-LATVIAAA!"

That was the last thing Matthew heard from the bar for the rest of the night.

* * *

**A/n:** This was a little longer. Woot! \(^o^)/

Argh! _Why_ is it so hard to write Hetalia magic? * I swear, I wouldn't be able to make anyone stay in character if they were in a coma -_-U

What France meant was the sound of what Mattie stuttered. Matthew said "I-I...I" and such and France understood that as if the young lady's explanation was her _eyes_… Did anyone get it, or does it only now make sense…?

**Translations:**

_Merde - shit_

_Pauvre fille – poor girl_

_Stupide ou quoi? – stupid or something?_

Fail translation is fail…

Oh my gosh, have you LISTENED to 'Mein Gott!'? It's sung by Prussia and it's almost as AWESOME as he is! Prussia sounds like he's making love to you just with his voice~! Atsushi Kousaka did an awesome job with Gilbert's voice (and Estonia, but mostly Prussia). He deserves an award, so this fanfic is dedicated to him!

... Does that seem like a crappy award? I mean, if this is a hit, it'd be good, if this is crappy, it'd be an insult…I must do my best then! *pumped up*

-By the way, **another awesome Prussia/fem!Canada fanfiction** is _"Canada's a what! And Canada's Dating Who!"_ by Pirates vs. Ninjas! You can check out that story, too! ^^

Reviews keep Latvia shaking! :D


	3. True Scent

Unexpected Changes

Chapter three: True Scent

**A/n:** Incredibly short, and late. I'm sorry…

**Warnings:** OOC behavior, wrong description of how to treat a hangover (I wouldn't know), SHORT chapter. Also, I changed the genre. I don't think I'll be adding romance until much, much, MUCH later in the story…

**Disclaimer: Hetalia isn't owned by me. But did you know that Hidekaz-sama didn't come up with the 5-meters comment? It's fan-made! How AWESOME is that! (Gilbert pun intended)**

**Words: Approx. 1,300**

* * *

-Recap-

After mysteriously becoming a girl, somehow thanks to England, Matthew proceeded to drag said unconscious, drunk nation out of the bar to a more secluded location where he can get some answers. What will Matthew discover after confronting his former guardian? Will said guardian wake up at all?

* * *

'_Argh…Why me?'_

Matthew asked himself the same question for what seemed the ten-thousandth time that night. After kind of successfully kidnapping Arthur and sneaking him out of the bar, the now female nation had decided that it might be a better idea to take him to his home in Manitoba rather than dealing with the drunk in the middle of the street. Although the idea of tossing him in the path of one of the car's way seemed so tempting…

Why was he normal one in his family, again?

Gracelessly dropping his former guardian on the sidewalk, Matthew raised his hand to call a cab, stretching his arms as he did so at the same time. Maybe it was from being in an uncomfortable position in the bathroom stall for so long or maybe it was his current 'situation', but his arms hurt like heck; not to mention he felt as if he didn't have as much upper body strength as he used to have… which really wasn't much at all. Alfred would always tease him about how Matthew couldn't punch a wet piece of paper with 'those noodles he called arms'. Matthew would proceed to go on one of his long and infamous 'reasons why you suck' rants until he could see Alfred's eyes start to tear up. If he didn't feel like wasting his breath, a quick mention of his white house after 1812 would usually do the job.

An hour and a half, an awkward cab ride (the rider kept sending Matthew and Arthur weird looks through his rearview mirror when he thought he wasn't noticed), and an expensive cab fare later, both nations found themselves at Canada's house in Manitoba. Not only wasn't it too far into the province, but it was extremely close to the border incase a World Meeting took place in a northern American state. His brother's Hilton and Embassy Suite hotels might be extremely comfortable, but nothing beat one's own bed and kitchen, in the Canadian's opinion. Sure his home wasn't as "extravagant" as Alfred's and Francis', but it had a homely feel to it that other homes lacked. Even as Matthew pulled his unconscious father figure inside -"How is it possible he's still sleeping? _Mon Dieu…_"- there already were lights turned on from within his house. These were the only signs that showed that his bear, Kumatatsu, was still awake.

Matthew was extremely glad he left his door unlocked. Not only was Canada's theft rate way lower than America's, but polar bears made better guards than dogs. He was able to enter his house with almost no troubles.

At least, until he heard said 'guard bear' slightly growl at him from behind.

Saying this had surprised him would've been a big understatement. Even when Kumashirou forgot his name, he never forgot and much less growled at him! Of course he looked nothing like himself at the moment… but still!

Matthew's whole body tensed instantly, even as he slowly turned around to face Kumajirou's coal black eyes. The usually docile and lazy bear was bearing his fangs with a small scowl easily noticeable on his face.

"Hey Kumashiki… How're you doing..?" the embodiment of Canada gulped and tried not to show his nervousness.

If Kumajirou had been surprised or taken off guard by a stranger somewhat knowing his name, he didn't show it. He did, however, take some steps towards the intruders, still tense as ever, and sniffed the only conscious one of the suspicious duo.

Snow…freshwater…fertile soil…The smell of alcohol almost completely covered those scents. A person's true scent, thankfully, was unique to every living being and almost impossible to cover. Sure enough, even though this human was very different from his easily forgettable master, they had the same Maple Leaf scent that only the representation of Canada had. Yup, it was Canada. What was his name again? Marvin? Matthias? No, that was the name of some other nation…Michael..?

"Who are you?" now only confusion and slight annoyance were noticeable on the small bear's face.

Matthew let out a soft sigh, glad that any possibility of an angry polar bear attacking him had seemingly disappeared. He pointed to himself with a much more relieved expression, "I'm Canada, even if it many seem hard to believe at the moment..."

Kumajirou still had the same look on his face, "I know _what_ you are. I asked _who you are_."

The Canadian slightly blushed and muttered a soft "M-Matthew…" It felt weird to call himself by his full male name right now…It also made him feel silly that his pet bear seemed to not care enough, or just plain ignore, his new…appearance, while he had dragged a drunk and most likely incoherent man in what could be best explained as 'kidnapping on an impulse' as a reaction. Thinking about it, he hoped this wasn't a violation of any kind of international peace treaty. 'So long as thou not threaten a drunken nation, thou shall not be nuked' and such…

Curiosity satiated, Kumajirou just turned and walked deeper inside the house towards the living room, most likely to watch TV or lay around before drifting to sleep. The Canadian just watched him walk away.

"Okay, then..? I'll…see you later…?" he just shook his head, more than sure his words fell on deaf ears from being muttered so softly. Matthew also felt annoyed that his hair smacked against his face as he did the motion. Now that it was longer and different, it kept getting in the way of his eyesight. He'd probably have to cut it…Or not. It's not like he was going to stay a woman for long, right? Not after he wakes up Arthur and makes him un-do the curse. Right. Of course.

So, with that in mind, Matthew laid Arthur on a chair in the kitchen with resting his head on the dinning table and looked through his cabinets for his coffee can. It was in the third door from the right, behind the fat-free, sugar-free bottle of chocolate syrup, somewhere Alfred would never look. He had to hide it there in order to make his southern brother stop stealing it every time he barged in on mornings un-announced. Maybe leaving the door unlocked wasn't such a great idea after all… He shook his head clear of thoughts again and grabbed the coffee. He took out his bag of milk from the refrigerator. He knew that once his former guardian woke, he'd have a killer hangover-induced headache, and angry or not, he was still Canadian, and that meant treating guests nicely.

An un-grumpy Arthur was a co-operable Arthur, after all, and he knew a good cup of coffee helped with hangovers. Knowing the English nation, he'd much rather prefer a cup of Earl Grey tea, but Matthew was completely out of any amount of tea in any way, shape or form.

"Ugh…Bollocks, my_ head_…"

As if right on cue, Arthur seemed to be returning to the real world and leaving dreamland. It was about time, too. Counting from when Matthew left running for the bathroom to when they took the ride home, he had to be out for more than two hours. That _might_ be too little time for a human, but they were nations after all. Finished with the hot drink, the Canadian poured it on a porcelain cup (a very old gift from China, the first time he visited Canada) and set it on the table, in front of Arthu—what a second, where were his toga clothes?

Sure enough, Arthur was rubbing his forehead in the white dress shirt Matthew had seen him in earlier that night at the bar before Alfred dragged him off to argue about god knows what.

Matthew blinked once. Then he blinked twice.

'…Stranger things have happened tonight,' he reasoned.

Still oblivious to his former charge, Arthur kept trying to remember exactly where he was, why he couldn't remember the last couple of hours, and _why_ did his head hurt so much? He also couldn't shake of the suspicion that _something _that wasn't supposed to happen did. It was only when he saw a cup of coffee being placed in his line of vision that he realized that he wasn't alone, wherever he was.

And as his emerald green eyes locked on the soft violet ones of the somewhat familiar young lady across from him, he could just _tell_ his headache was only going to get worse.

* * *

A/n In response to a certain review I got: I had heard the chorus of that **Prussia song **_**'My Song Written by Me for Me'**, _and I found it pretty catchy. Apparently, _Hetalia Medley_ shouldn't be used to decide whether you like a song or not, since the original sounds quite different… I was both amazed and scared by the original song O_O. Still liked it though! Especially since he says:

_"I will fry it! Pancakes! Maple syrup! It's the best!_  
_Come here! I will share some with you!_  
_I'm so damn happy! I'll do it! "The Awesome Me" Honor Award!"_

Mention of Canada FTW, anyone? Woot! :D More fuel for PruCan fangirls~!

**Official A/n: **I don't quite like this chapter. It took long to get out and was quite short and sort of filler-like… -headdesk-


	4. Late night Coffee, Scones, and Pancakes

Unexpected Changes

Chapter four: Late night Coffee, Scones, and Pancakes

**A/n:** Sorry for being so late. University Calculus exams. That's all I have to say. But since it got moved to this Monday, I got some free time to post this. Also, thanks to KitakLaw and Silent Neko-chan, who (unknowingly) gave me that last push to take a break from studying to finish this~. Enjoy!

**Semi important note! **I like to make a story progress slowly. I mean _slowly_. Just saying: if you're impatient about how slow things are, then I apologize, but this is my first _real_ story, and I'm not an experienced writer yet!

**Edit!** I added a lot of new text near the middle. I was clearing typos, and bam! Inspiration. So there's some changes, but nothing plot-worthy. Just Canada thinking stuff that might've been. –smiles deviously-

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or Canada's female look. Both were created by Himaruya-papa, and even if he **_**is**_** a little slow uploading during events -coughbloodbath2011cough-, he's much better at Hetalia than I am.**

**Words: Approx. 3,100**

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew reached his house in order to confront Arthur in private. Luckily, Kumajirou recognized his master and didn't attack. As for Arthur? He's just now waking up to realize that something's _not quite right_ with this scenario…

* * *

Living extremely near the North Pole and being partially surrounded by snow all year round, Matthew was quite used to silent and still environments. He could also bet that going unseen for days at a time by fellow nations since as long as he could remember might contribute to the list of reasons. Nevertheless, he was a very patient nation and could sit still for hours at a time until he felt he had a chance to talk or make himself known.

Arthur, however, wasn't as good with silence, which would explain why he felt extremely uncomfortable with the heavy, soundless atmosphere surrounding the kitchen at the moment. The lady's unwavering gaze in his direction wasn't helping, either.

Awkward…

With a cough and a polite 'thank you' for the cup of coffee earlier provided for him, he broke the eye connection in favor of a small sip. He welcomed the caffeine and all soothing effects it would give his headache. As he laid the porcelain cup upon the wooden surface of the table, he wondered what he had missed during the night from when he started drinking with the other nations, to present time, sitting across from a stranger at an unknown location.

"R-right. It tastes quite nice," Arthur stuttered out. He was severely lacking any skills for lightening the tension filled room. For all his talent in sensing when things were wrong, they weren't really useful when he lacked the skills for how to change the atmosphere to his advantage. And, though he'd never admit it, it was the one thing France greatly knew how to do that England wished he could do as well.

Canada had remained silent the entire time, secretly enjoying England's uneasiness. He considered it slight payback for getting him in this dilemma. Being passive in nature had it's quirks after all.

"Really? I'm very glad you find it to your liking, Arthur," Matthew hid any form of a smirk or smile trying to show on his face. Messing with Arthur like this was funnier than extracting revenge in a physical way. "I was worried I added too much milk, but it seems I still remember how you like it," and seeing Arthur practically choke on air was completely worth it.

Maybe he still had a lot of French blood in him after all. Francis would've been proud.

'_B-bloody hell! I apparently know this person! What in the Queen's name happened after I drank? Surely I hadn't been drunk enough to shag some bystander at the pub…right?'_ Arthur suddenly grew pale._ 'Oh god, it's India all over again…'_ The self-proclaimed gentleman was panicking trying to recall who the other was. Luckily for him, Matthew decided it was high time to get things moving.

"Alright, Arthur. I need to get serious," the Canadian stood straight in front of Arthur to make sure he didn't 'accidentally fade out of existence', as Alfred so kindly put it, while he addressed the biggest issue… while still speaking in his low and whispery tone because of manners, of course. If he noticed Arthur's face pale in the anxiety for his next words, he made no move to show it. "I'm, in reality, Canada."

Silence.

"Umm…" England crossed his arms while a pensive frown adorned his face. "Who?"

And Matthew facepalmed.

* * *

-Click-

"-Mon! Gotta catch 'em al-"

-Click-

"-Ohan just got arrested once more for driving under the-"

-Click-

"-BAM! Now let it simmer, keeping the temperature under seventy nine degrees Fahrenhe-"

-Click-

To say Kumajirou was bored would be an understatement.

The bear, after guarding his master's house that night and almost accidentally mauling him out, had returned to the living room to continue watching television. Sure it was weird that…Canada?... What's-his-name looked different from before, but heck if he knew anything about humans and their weird rituals. From what he knew, it was normal for them to change their physical appearance from one moment to the other. Wasn't that called 'puberty' or something? All he asked was to be told these things in advance so he wouldn't have to rise from the couch when he saw someone he hadn't seen before at the door.

The last time that happened, Alfred started using the back door…and wore an extra pair of 'non shred-able' underwear, 'just-in-case'. Canada (?) had reprimanded him, but it certainly wasn't the bear's fault that the American nation had grown quite a lot and gained some weight (muscle his ass) since last time they had met.

"-Ou know it's not clean unless it's Oxy-Clea-"

-Click-

Deciding there was nothing worthwhile on the television, Kumajirou wandered to the kitchen for a late night bite. When he stepped inside, he saw his different looking master and that man that failed at cooking regularly. The one with the big eyebrows seemed extremely confused while the other kept making hand motions while seemingly trying to explain something… Dang it, he forgot his master's name again…

"You know… Had the Olympics not too long ago? You took me away from France? I carry around Kumakachi?"

Kumajirou tilted his head to the side "Who?"

"Canada, the one that feeds you," he replied, hardly missing a beat, and turned to face the confused Britain again.

"Oh." Finding the answer satisfactory, he walked over to the cabinet under the sink to retrieve a small bag of chips before dragging it away to devour, obviously ignoring Arthur's dumbfounded gaze in his direction. He was used to those looks by now, since talking polar bears 'apparently' weren't a 'normal' occurrence.

Matthew gave an exasperated sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose in defeat, hair getting in his vision once again. He was going to try one last thing. It always made Arthur connect the dots and remember him, but made the Canadian annoyed that it was the only sure fire way to get his former father-figure to recall him. "I'm Canada, the second largest nation in the world," he took a slight pause, "…and Alfred's brother."

The response was instantaneous, as if someone had flipped 'on' a light switch and made the British man's eyes widen with the realization. "_M_-_Matthew_?"

The Canadian gave another deep sigh. "Y-yes…"

Arthur's giant eyebrows rose in evident disbelief. He didn't look any less confused than he did before. The opposite, actually; he was rubbing the back of his head, as if the action would make his jumbled thoughts coherent.

The gender-confused male had sat back down on the chair opposite to Arthur's and was staring intently and seriously at him, simply _willing_ him to quicken his thinking rate. However, after a few moments he felt he had no choice but to cough politely and interrupt the train of thought to point something out.

"I'm sorry, but…" he looked away, a small smile unconsciously forming on his lips, "I can't take this situation as seriously as I should if _that's_ on your face."

"Huh?" was the other's intelligent response.

Matthew stood and walked over to a small table on the side of the room and dug inside the first drawer before pulling out a small handheld mirror. With a small, if not mischievous smile, he held it in Arthur's line of sight.

"W-what in the blazes is this?" he shrieked (in a manly way, mind you) and gripped the mirror in both hands, glaring at it. The poor thing looked about to brake, but England neither noticed nor cared. "This has that bloody _frog_ written all over it, that or the _git_…" If the situation hadn't been so hilarious, Matthew might've shivered at the malice in Arthur's voice. Something told him the next World Meeting would break into an argument earlier than normal.

"In a way, it was both Francis and Alfred," Matthew supplied.

This only made Arthur's eyes narrow even more "Of course."

Having grabbed a cloth with soap drenched in lukewarm water, Canada passed it over to England so the later could wipe away the obscene, _pink _drawing scribbled on his face.

Canada couldn't help but smile. His mood lifted a little; this whole occurrence might be bordering on the weird if not bizarre, but his family was still the same as always. The thought made his inside feel warm and fuzzy.

Fine, he was a sensitive man. He could still beat your ass senseless at hockey so back off.

"Back to the matter at hand," Arthur started once his face was free of graffiti, "You claim to be Matthew, but you're…well…" he paused to search for adequate wording "You're different from how I last remember you to be…" He added 'obviously' in his mind as an afterthought.

A twitch made its way to the younger nation's lips. A weird sensation settled on the bottom of his stomach and somewhere, in the back of his mind, a small part of him was getting ready to enter 'panic mode' for reasons he still didn't completely understand. Matthew gulped, licking his lips in a nervous way. He felt that Arthur's last statement was a foreshadowing to something he wouldn't be happy too hear, even if he couldn't yet figure for the life of him as to _why_.

He laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, I thought the same thing when I n-noticed myself…" he gulped again, "And as funny as it may seem in a couple of hundred years, I would rather prefer to be the way I was b-before."

"Hm, I can see your reasoning for that." Arthur nodded "If you don't mind my asking, how exactly were you able to make such a flawless transformation, lad? I'm quite impressed."

'Panic mode' was beginning to activate.

"V-very funny, Arthur…" the violet-eyed nation laughed nervously once again, "Y-you know you were the one that changed me a c-couple of hours ago."

Arthur's blank stare was definitely _not_ what he wanted as a response.

Silence.

'_Maple.'_

* * *

"What do you mean you _don't remember_ _anything! ?"_

"E-exactly what it means! I had a few drinks with Alfred and I woke up here with a cup of coffee! That's all I can recall!"

The younger blonde cradled his head in his hands as his elbows rested atop of the table. This whole thing had to be a nightmare, it just had to be!

"You mean to tell me…" Matthew's eyes locked with Arthur's emerald ones through the curtain of hair falling in front of them, fearing to find sincerity in the gaze, "…That you have no recollection_ whatsoever_ of turning me into a girl..?"

"…" Arthur turned his eyes to the side, looking out the window into the dark streets outside. His silence was enough of an answer for his former charge.

Canada let his head slide from his hands and hit the surface of the table. That didn't make him feel any better; in fact, he was beginning to feel a growing headache behind his eyes.

…It probably wasn't a good idea to do that while he had his glasses on…

Speaking of headaches, he was sure Arthur still had a pretty strong hangover…and here he was basically guilt-tripping him into over thinking about this night…Now he felt worse for being so rude and demanding. That wasn't like him at all…

"If…"

Matthew raised his head to look at Arthur, who was looking back.

"If it's any consolation, lad… situations like these, rare as they are, usually don't last longer than a couple of hours." Arthur gave a small, comforting smile and suddenly Matthew felt like he was a small colony again trying to understand why he was living in a new house with so many different people and so far away from Francis. Even if he could be the most emotionally awkward person on the face of the Earth, Arthur had always held his best interest at heart…at least, when he remembered him.

"S-so…there's a chance by morning I'll be normal again..?"

With a more confident smile and a firm grip to the younger nation's shoulder, Arthur nodded certainly. "Right. So chin up, Matthew. In the morning everything will be set right once more." Matthew smiled at this, feeling much better. "And as an apology for doing this in the first place, I'll bake you some scones as a midnight snack. That should be an adequate pick-me-up."

Matthew stopped smiling.

"N-no need! You're a guest, so it wouldn't be p-proper! I'll just give you a room for the night so you may rest!" The violet eyed girl gently pushed Arthur out of the kitchen, saving everyone in the house from any potential food poisoning.

* * *

Minutes later, well after midnight, Matthew made his way downstairs, quite tired. He had spent a good while convincing Arthur that his generosity in the kitchen would not be needed and to sleep comfortably for the night. Shortly after that, he had gone to his bedroom to pick another set of clothes. That had been a…unique experience… Acting much like a blind person in an attempt to not see _anything_, he quickly had shed his clothing and settled for an oversized hockey jersey and some pajama pants over a pair of white boxers.

It still felt weird to even walk as a girl. Certain areas he didn't have before tended to…shift…along with his movements if he wasn't careful. Shortly afterwards, he walked to his bathroom to finally brush his teeth, since he wasn't planning on having bad breath from back when he threw up inside the bar. While he was on it, he grabbed a headband he had lying around to pin back the long bangs that kept hitting his face. He usually kept hair ornaments around for when he woke, so his hair wouldn't get in the way as he washed his face and such. It was a habit he had acquired from being pampered and attended to by France.

As he brushed away, he took the time to go over his situation once more. He was cursed or magically altered by England, who mistook him for America again. well, there was nothing he could really do about it now, was there? Canada had always been a little...doubious at best... about England's claims of magic, but aftetr countless 'mysterious occurences' he would see now and then while living as his colony as well as meeting certain 'unusual' animals such as Kumajirou and , the possibility of magic being real was quite hard to ignore. And now he was a girl because of a stupid mix-up... So…if England hadn't confused him, _Alfred_ would be the one having this dilemma right now? He tried to imagine what would've happened if that had been the case.

He promptly spit out his toothpaste at the scary thoughts he just had. America would've called this a level five emergency situation and all the world nations would've known instantly, without doubt. Not to mention that he was a bit sketchy of England's claims at magic, at least when sober. When he was drunk…well, his earlier claims that Canada was a fairy were enough to show his changed beliefs… Alfred would flip and cause panic in a few hours of the change occurring. His attention-grabbing voice would be yelling out profanities within the minute, most likely at anything that moved. Surely if Alfred had been hit with this, the next world meeting would have a new theme.

'_Wait, the next meeting is in two days, right?'_ Matthew almost panicked, but remembered Arthur's words. He'd be back to normal the next day, a full twenty-four hours before the meeting, he'd be back to being a male, and almost no-one would be the wiser! He exhaled in immense relief and continued brushing his teeth.

He had a new thought. What if someone else completely had been changed? Someone like France or Russia, who were near America when he drank? If Francis was changed into a girl…that…wouldn't be much of a change, would it? With his 'overflowing amour for everything', he'd probably just say that it'd be an interesting change and he'd run off in search of some partners...? Gods, he didn't know, but it would've been interesting, to say the least. Matthew felt glad that he hadn't inherited any of his Papa's 'desire' before he was taken by Arthur. If he had ended as 'active' as his father… He shuddered a bit at the thought. And what if Russia had been changed instead?...

'…'

Matthew quickly finished brushing and left the bathroom considerably scared. Two words came to his mind quite quickly: Angry Belarus. Everyone would be six feet under if that had happened…

'_But since I'm invisible, this went off rather smoothly, huh.'_ The Canadian let out a heavy sigh. He'd need _a lot_ of Maple Syrup to deal with this situation without falling into depression. He made his way downstairs to take Kumazura into bed and clean any potential mess said bear may have made that night.

At least, that was the plan until he heard loud, incessant knocks against his front door.

Honestly curious, Matthew told Kumarise to go upstairs to his bed while he moved towards his door. It couldn't have been Alfred, since he was sure his brother would be back at his own house sporting a handsome hangover if he wasn't still chugging drinks at the bar. With the most likely person out of the picture, he was curious of who it could be. Maybe some person asking for directions? A much louder series of knocks in the rythm of _Shave and a Haircut _kicked him out of his thoughts.

"Coming!" Seriously, was this person trying to burst the door down? Any louder and it might wake the sleeping nation upstairs. Not bothering to look through the peephole, Canada opened the door to look at the surprise visitor.

That's when violet-blue eyes landed on blood-red ones.

Fate _really_ seemed to hated him.

"Mattie~! The bar kicked us out and I need some awesome pancakes~!" a loud and boisterous voice yelled out in apparent happiness. Until crimson eyes completely took in the scene before him.

A tired-looking young girl in a hockey jersey a good few sizes bigger than normal, messy hair, barefoot, wearing clothes he distinctly remembered belonging to the house's owner, strangely familiar pair of glasses…

Matthew gulped nervously. "G-Gilbert?"

"_Mein Gott!_" the albino normally known as Prussia barged in and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, a giant grin on his face. "I can't believe this! The day's finally here! I knew it was only a matter of time!"

Confused by the Prussian's words, Matthew could only stand there, mouth agape. Did this mean Gilbert could instantly tell Matthew had somehow changed genders? And that this was expected?

Drying tears of joys from his eyes, Prussia placed his arm across the confused nation's shoulders.

"I'm so glad Mattie finally got laid~!"

The Canadian's brain short circuited. "H-h-huh?"

Gilbert, completely oblivious to the other's discomfort and bewilderment, turned to her and gave that infamous, troublemaking smirk of his. "So? I wanna know the name of the person responsible for making Birdie get lucky! Who are you?"

And Matthew, frankly not knowing what else to say, could only yell.

"I-I'M CANADA!"

* * *

**A/n:** Kesese~! About time that _me, PRUSSIA-SAMA,_ made a grand appearance! And to make this extra awesome, I hi-jacked Yukai's fanfiction account and took over the Author's note! It's not nearly as amazing as when I hacked Himaruya's site on April Fools, but it'll have to do! Right, Gilbird?

Right…Gilbird's at West's house… (Being alone is so awesome…)

Eh? What's with this sticky-note at the bottom of the story? "Yukai's list for the end of the story"? Ahh…how bothersome…

**-Scribble, scribble, scribble-**

There! "GREAT PRUSSIA'S list for the end of the story"! NOW we can get on with this! First off, "Mention a good PruCan story".

…'PruCan'? The fuck's a 'PruCan'?

Bah! I'll tell you a _kickass_ story! '_Memoirs of a Prussian Defense' by Twilight Rose2_! Of course it's _awesome_, I'M the main character! Kesese~, Birdie was in that story a lot too now that I remember… Well, it's still a story about _me_, and that's what matters!

Next! "Mention date of the next chapter".

Eh? How am I supposed to know _that_? Isn't there a button at the bottom or something that tells you that? Well, my awesomeness is hard to explain in words, so it might take a while. Next!

"Recommend a good Hetalia song".

_Obviously_ any song_ I_ sing is the best song, no matter what West says! It's not senseless screaming if it's done by a full-bloded Prussian! He's just jealous my voice doesn't scare cute Ita-chan away! But a good song besides mine?...

That song I heard Spain sing once… he got it from Romano, I think. _'Oishi Tomato no Uta'_? Ita-chan sings it all the time because it's so addictive~ so cute…

**-Knock, knock-**

Hm? Who's there? Yukai couldn't have gotten back from the fake Calculus exam I sent her to that quickly…

**-Opens door-** Who the hell's ther—

**-Pang! Thud-**

_~Experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by~_

Hello, everyone! This is Hungary, stepping in~! I apologize for Prussia's annoying interruption. He's currently…_out_… at the moment and won't be bothering you anymore! Please review Yukai's story so she'll write more for everyone! I'm sure she might write the next chapter sooner if you do~ **–exits room, cleaning bloody frying pan-**


	5. Dawn

Unexpected Changes

Chapter five: Dawn

**A/n:** I LIVE! There was the slump in updates in the Hetalia section because of the error-message type 2 dilemma, a new problem where uploaded chapters wouldn't appear after being loaded, and I got bombarded with university projects/exams… and a humongous block at the start of this chapter…EXCUSES! But it's what slowed me, so…

**Notes: **In the anime, Prussia is supposedly awkward around girls because he's used to hanging out with guys, so in a way, he'll be acting out of character by NOT freaking out when talking to Canako, okay? And all parenthesis in this story **aren't** author's notes, they're attempts at humor.

**Warnings: **Language, fail German, attempted humor, OOC behavior, unannounced POV changes.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. I'd already have a prototype copy of the Gakuen PSP game and I'd be dating Canada and Prussia at the same time during it if I owned Hetalia XD (Prussia is an un-lockable character! That rules!)**

**Words: Approx. 4,100**

* * *

-Recap for the fanfiction so far-

Matthew found himself in a big, unexpected problem when he suddenly changed genders after having Arthur confront and mistake him for Alfred. A supposed curse for his brother changes him into a female version of his former self. Looking for answers, Matthew kidnaps Arthur and takes him home. Later that night, Matthew finds out that Arthur had no recollection of transforming him, making him unable to know how to turn him back. His only hopes remains that the curse will wear off after a few hours…unfortunately, Gilbert stops by for a late night visit, making Matthew's life a little more complicated.

* * *

"I-I'M CANADA!"

As soon as those words slipped his lips, Matthew clamped his hands over his mouth, mortified. _'M-maple! Why did I say that so loud? This is not something to shout out… Mon Dieu, I'm turning into my brother…' _Gilbert's silence wasn't helping so much, either.

"…-an?" was the albino's single, and rather strange, reply.

"H-huh?"

"You said 'I'm Canada-an', right? Mattie got freaky with one of his citizens? Didn't know he had it in him…" Gilbert dawdled off, seemingly having forgotten about the other person at the door with him. Matthew remained rooted on the spot. Did Gilbert honestly not know that the correct term was 'Canadian', not 'Canadan'? And more importantly, should he be slightly relieved that Gilbert didn't believe his claim to be a nation (that was hard to believe since he _did _yell it out…then again, Gilbert himself was often hard to believe), or annoyed that he was mumbling that 'Birdie getting laid by his own people is basically the same as masturbating'…

"Well, it doesn't matter!" Matthew was knocked out of his thoughts by Gilbert's sudden exclamation. The Canadian's face paled as he saw him pull out his cell-phone and take a quick picture of him, dishelmed clothing and everything. "I have to text this to all the other guys~. Kesese, wait 'til they see that little Mattie's all grown u—"

Before Gilbert could finish his sentence, Matthew suddenly pulled him inside the house and slammed his mouth shut with his hands so quickly and efficiently, it would've made Hungary proud. He hadn't completely thought out the action; he just acted on instincts, which had said that Gilbert not only needed to shut up, but couldn't tell _anyone_ about _anything_ regarding what was going on. After the surprise from the sudden action passed, Prussia removed the blonde's hands from his mouth and slightly glared.

"What the fuck, lady? I know I'm the definition of irresistible but it's not normal to randomly pull people inside houses without them asking!" _'Unless you're Francis,'_ he thought, but decided to keep that to himself.

"L-like taking a photo without permission is any b-better!"

Gilbert just scoffed, but closed his flip phone. He didn't put it away though, which made Matthew stay on guard. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

_'Oh the irony…'_ thought the blonde, before giving a heavy sigh and looking Gilbert in the eye. "I'm completely serious, Prussia: you can't tell the others about anything you've seen…"

Gilbert's face instantly turned pensive, a light shifting of his eyes showed confusion. However, his crimson orbs soon widened in realization before they narrowed and glared at the Canadian's violet ones coldly. If anyone were to suddenly stumble into the scene, they would find the Prussian's appearance quite fear-inducing and similar to Germany's harsh expression during World War II. Simply put, it was obvious that something said made Gilbert stop being all fun and games, for whatever reason.

Matthew's voice trailed off, a small shiver running up his spine, as he wondered why the other's expression turned so…harsh and accusing all of a sudden. Honestly, it scared Matthew a little…he hadn't seen his face that focused since… well, a very long time ago. Matthew had only been trying to explain that Gilbert couldn't…

Oh shit…

He _hadn't_ said Gilbert had he..?

_'I said Gilbert before,'_ the blonde's face paled slightly. _'It was bad enough that a 'complete stranger' would know his name, but I just called him Prussia to show how serious I was… but a 'normal human' isn't supposed to know that we're nations…'_

Matthew resisted the incredibly strong urge to raise his hand to his forehead…and facepalm. He opted for raising his hands in front of him, similar to a peace offering and to hopefully not rouse the Prussian further.

"Gilbert, I can expla-"

"Yeah you _better_ fucking explain! Last time I checked, fuck buddies don't go around knowing whatever it is you know," the Prussian's crimson eyes bore deep into Matthew's purple ones, his fierce gaze unwavering as he spoke. It accomplished its purpose; Matthew definitely felt intimidated and found no alternative but to break the eye contact lest he stutter his words out... Sure, he had seen worse looks of unfiltered hate during wars and what-not, but never had he seen such an intense glare over something else. Not even Cuba's glare when he confused him for America was that harsh; then again, a human that _isn't _a boss of a nation knowing their secret was considered one of the highest forms of taboo possible… And now Gilbert was being all aggressive for something Matthew _knew_ he messed up when talking to him and was responsible for. Granted, if one were to back track, the whole incident could be labeled as Arthur's fault, or America's for even _suggesting_ getting drunk, but Matthew was more worried of the intimidating ex-nation before him than figuring out who could be completely blamed for his misfortune.

The Canadian nodded, mostly to steady himself. He wanted to avoid anyone besides Arthur knowing about the curse, but the situation begged to differ. He'd just have to come out clean, regardless of the humongous possibility that the louder nation wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut about the whole ordeal.

"Alright, you want the truth..?" a small gulp after a serious nod of confirmation. "The truth is that I'm not a 'f-fuck buddy', as you so kindly put it…" Matthew took a step backwards, for reasons he didn't really know, and chanced a look at Gilbert's eyes again. He clearly looked impatient, arms crossed, seriousness still adorning his face, "A-actually…I'm Canada—NOT _just_ a Canadian_,_" Matthew told him before Gilbert even tried to interrupt him.

The albino just scoffed, not looking the least bit fazed or convinced, as if actually expecting Matthew would say that. "Keh, yeah right. I happen to _personally_ know Canada and _**he**_ sure as heck isn't a girl," he flicked the blonde's forehead with a hand, hardly stopping in his statement, "and he sure as hell doesn't sound like you, either."

Forehead creased and slightly rubbing the spot the Prussian flicked, Matthew glared back, "Just_ what_ are you talking ab-"

It was right in that moment that Canada understood precisely _what_ Prussia meant. His eyes widened behind his glasses and both his hands shot to grasp his neck. He was almost afraid to speak, fearing that whatever words or sounds that passed his lips would confirm what Gilbert just said and what he himself wanted to fiercely deny.

"_Mon Dieu_…" the blonde grimaced at his voice, slumping to the floor, huddling his knees much like Alfred would do after Matthew vented his anger for hours on end, "…even my voice changed, too… _crisse…_"

Gilbert just looked on, stupefied by the sudden change in behavior of the girl. It was a complete one-eighty degree change. First she was silent, then yelled and grabbed him, then talked as though annoyed only to be apologetic, then lied, and now she looked like a kid after being told that both Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny didn't exist. In his perplexed state -though still wary of the woman- he didn't even notice when Kumajirou walked down the stairs until he plopped down on the wooden floor besides them and gave a loud yawn.

The bear just tilted his head as he looked at Prussia, silently wondering when he entered the house. It wasn't while he was standing guard, was it? Normally, he wouldn't care, but if it was, he wouldn't be trusted to be left alone at home anymore, and tagging along with his owner while all the nations partied was always trauma inducing. His fur just finished growing back from the last incident involving Denmark, arrows, a blindfold, and Molotov cocktails.

At least it wasn't nearly as bad as that one time someone drank the last bottle of vodka in the bar before Russia and, by addition, Belarus finally joined the others. Needless to say, all present day nations are currently banned from all bars in Thailand and southern Laos.

Staring at the polar cub, Gilbert pointed to the still depressed woman and promptly asked, "Do you have any idea who this crazy broad is?"

Kumajirou looked at the person he was pointing at. She was absently poking the floor before her bare feet, tracing some pattern he couldn't identify. An unusually big cloud of depression was hanging around her.

The bear got on all fours and wobbled over –probably still suffering the effects of all the sugar he previously had inhaled- and nudged her arm with his snout. When his owner's attention shifted towards him, he tilted his head to the side again.

"Dare?" Kumajirou asked yet again, ignoring the Canadian's renewed wave of despair and her choked sob.

The red-eyed nation crouched near the floor to get Kumajirou's attention.

"Watcha mean 'Who are you'? She was _in your house, _you're supposed to _know _who—"

Prussia's eyes widened once more, although this time it was for a completely different reason. His head snapped in the other human's direction so quickly he might've suffered whiplash. He looked rather comical, and Matthew might've laughed had he been paying attention.

Gilbert's mind could only process one thought over and over again, on repeat_. 'Dare? Who are you? Wer bist du? Dare? Who are you?…'_

Holy shit.

As the albino's mind started racing, finally able to make complex and more advanced thoughts (and swears), his body acted almost unconsciously. He tore her arms away from where they were previously latched under her knees, ignoring the blonde's confused, surprised or indignant squawks. Once her head was raised, Gilbert (in a completely uncharacteristic display of being touchy-feely) grabbed her glasses and pulled them off, revealing her light purple eyes completely. Lastly, he reached behind her head, collected her long hair and pulled it up, so in a way it would remain out of view behind her skull if one were to look at her from straight ahead, as Prussia was currently doing.

Holy shit on a fucking stick.

"M-m-maple…" Matthew's eyes were still a bit glossed over with unshed tears from the sudden stress he felt from everything. First he was a girl, then Kumagacha _growled _at him, then Arthur couldn't immediately change him back, he had to dress himself in a _woman's body_, and now Gilbert almost exposed him to the other nations and got mad at him before he was unintentionally told that his voice was different and higher pitched than it was before (it was just like puberty all over again, with his voice breaking); his voice was the straw that broke the camel's back and the Canadian was restlessly trying to stop the dam of tears from breaking…

Gilbert kept looking straight into Matthew's eyes, his own showing all the emotions running through them, such as bewilderment, surprise, confusion…and a hint of barely noticeable guilt. "B-birdie?"

Matthew gave a shaky yet certain nod, internally glad that Gilbert seemed to realize it was him all along. If he had to guess, he still looked a bit like his former self, and it would explain why Gilbert was looking so intently at his eyes and hair style.

"Shit…"Gilbert grabbed the blonde's arms and gently raised him to his feet, giving him back his glasses, "Dude, how the fuck did this happen?"

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his palm and wearing the glasses once more, he grabbed the hem of his oversized jersey and looked at it to avoid eye contact. Matthew felt silly for almost crying: all the stress from the entire day catches up to him and he breaks down like a kid who was denied a candy bar. That was so childish! "The b-bar…England was mad at Alfred…and drunk…" he mumbled off, knowing the rest would explain itself. Not only had Prussia been around longer than Canada, but he most probably had more experience dealing with the British man in his inebriated state as well.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes. "Verdammt, of course it was fairy boy's fault..." He ruffled his hair in what could only be thought of as exasperation. He looked a lot more tired than when he first knocked on the door. "Did you confront that limey?"

A frown, "Of course I did. And don't call him that…"

His last comment went ignored. "And what'd he say?"

A pout found its way to the girl's face and stayed there along with the memory, "I'll probably be back to normal tomorrow," he walked to Kumajirou and picked him up, the bear practically sleeping with its eyes open, "So please don't tell anyone. I _really_ don't need that kind of negative attention…"

When Gilbert showed no sign of recognition for the Canadian's words, Matthew simply pointed at the floor, were Gilbert's Prussian-Blue flip phone laid forgotten. Giving a small 'Oh', he picked it up and flashed that infamous, troublemaking grin of his. "Just one, simple picture? C'mon, Francis will be thrilled to believe you finally got some! You're loosing the boobs tomorrow anyways, right? I'm doing you favor!"

When Matthew saw Gilbert was serious and was quickly strolling through menu's in the phone, he shot forward trying to seize the device "Dammit Gilbert, no! I will kill you if you even _dare_!"

"Nope! Just wait a second! Francis gets one, Alfred should get one, too…Oh, and Kiku would love this kinda thing~"

"Gilbert!"

Quite flustered and worried the other one would follow through with his 'favor', Matthew (unable to use both hands, as he was still holding Kumahiru) kicked him hard at the shins and grabbed the cellphone when the other doubled over in pain, ignoring the un-amused glare pointed his way. _'Guess females __do __have stronger lower body strength…'_

"Gott, Matt! What the hell!"

"Just be glad I didn't kick you much higher and leave you limping on the floor." Click, scroll down, and double click, message and photo deleted.

"Dang, I know I said that you acted like a bitch sometimes, but I didn't think I'd ever mean it this way," the albino flashed a stupid-looking grin, and the blonde just rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, you hoser." Unfortunately, he couldn't keep the blushing glare to himself.

* * *

After going to the kitchen so Matthew could (grudgingly, mind you) make Gilbert his 'awesome' pancakes, both nations were sitting on the table having their 'midnight snack', drenched in maple syrup of course.

"Gott, these things are almost orgasmic! Much better than West's~!"

Dropping the maple syrup back at the middle of the table, the Canadian gave a long sigh, "Gilbert, can't you tone down the language? Honestly, you're gonna give me a headache with it."

Seeing that Gilbert was unusually silent afterwards, Matthew chanced a glance from atop his pancake stack. Gilbert had a far-off look, as if thinking deeply of something.

"Y' know…" he started after a few seconds, "'That's what she said' jokes might never sound as fun thanks to this thing."

What scared Matthew the most was that he wasn't surprised Gilbert had said something like that. He looked for a change in topic that wouldn't involve the albino mourning some of his favorite crude jokes ever.

"So tell me, exactly _how_ did you guys get kicked out?" _'this time'_ Matthew added in his mind, as he took a bite of pancakes.

"Simple," he thankfully swallowed before continuing, waving his fork in the air as he did so. "So Al and Francis are fighting about some chick they saw, rig—Oh wow, _you _were that chick?" Matthew's blush and nervous cough were the only answers he needed. "Ha! That's hilarious, kesese~. Anyway, they get that bastard Russia bored after he scares the pants off that Latvian kid – not literally this time – so he goes to molest Yao again. Somehow Elizaveta's gay-dar goes off the hook and she basically _flies_ from the bathroom to check it out. She starts squealing like crazy which grabs Kiku's attention and he, with Hong, are trying to keep Russia away, and the noise calls out the owner over, which makes the un-awesome decision that all of us have drinken-"

"Drank? Drunk?"

"Like hell I am!" he slammed his fists on the table, probably trying to look utterly offended, but only looked childish with the giant stack of fluffy pancakes in front of him. Matthew stifled a giggle behind a bite and motioned him to continue.

"Seriously, get with it, Matt! Don't interrupt the awesome! Anyway, where…Oh yeah, the jerkass owner. He cuts all our drinks, so the competition gets canceled. Matthias and Sadiq get all prissy 'cuz they have bets going. Then Heracles starts fighting with Sadiq 'bout how he'd lose anyway or something, accidentally knocking Lilly into France…you can guess what happened next, right?" Gilbert continued at Matthew's short nod, "This makes Vash go all ape-shit on France and everyone else with his rifle. Then your bro goes all 'The Hero's a better shot' or something equally stupid and starts going off…"another bite from the pancakes, "And Yong Soo might or might not have accidentally groped Ivan while aiming for Yao, making Natalya go crazy, too."

The way he finished so casually and continue to wolf down the pancakes might've caused a normal person to think he was crazy (and really, would they be _that_ far off?), but Matthew and the other nations knew better than that by now.

"So basically, not the worst that's happened?"

"Exactly, Birdie."

Okay, that was fine. If Gilbert that, somehow, was always able to tell who Matthew was didn't know he was the 'mystery chick', he really doubted the others would suddenly realize after he had left the bar.

Although they were currently in Canada, both the bar and the World Meeting were located in the northern states of America. Last thing he needed was nations crossing the border to drink at Canadian bars (yes, he _has_ bars, thank you very much have a nice day), only to have his Prime Minister calling for either disorderly conduct on, literally, a world scale or because nations were getting lost in his streets.

Alfred thought it'd be hilarious if he told the guys at Google Earth to place a big igloo where Canada was supposed to be and hasn't removed it yet. The North American twins can really get on each other's nerves if they put their minds to it.

Matthew blinked twice and looked as Gilbert finished his plate. It just occurred to him that the other didn't seem as drunk as he would've thought he'd be. He _had _been in the drinking contest with Denmark, hadn't he?

"Hey, Gilbert? You're acting pretty sober…kind of…weren't you in a drinking contest with Denmark?"

Giving a loud burp and not bothering to look sorry in the least, Gilbert propped his feet on the table and crossed his arms behind his head. "Nah, I wasn't allowed too many drinks. West said I'd be stuck driving us to the hotel. Kesese~, Ita-cakes drove for me instead! He'll probably wake up West, talking loudly without noticing his hangover! No matter how cute Italy is, loud noises during a hangover can piss anyone off." Gilbert gave a loud yawn of his own, "Serves him right. He ended up drinking against Matthias and I had to watch at the sidelines."

Standing from the table and grabbing Kumajirou (he had dragged him to the kitchen after the whole cellphone incident and let him sleep on his lap), he walked to the hallway, telling Gilbert to follow him to his other spare guest room, which, getting kicked out from Germany's house frequently, was Prussia's favorite place to crash, and told him not to make noise (snoring) if he could help it.

"Yeah, right. The awesome me doesn't snore!" Nonetheless, he walked inside with a 'Gute Nacht' and had the decency to not slam the door shut. Matthew considered that politeness as far as he went and wouldn't complain.

After making his way over to his room and his bed, he laid down and cuddled Kumacana close, burring his face in the soft fur. Sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time that night alone, he closed his eyes and hoped to fall asleep soon, if just so morning could come and end the stupid spell.

Morning couldn't come quick enough.

* * *

When Arthur Kirkland finally awoke from his deep slumber, some snow fairies tinkling around the room, he immediately noticed he felt a lot better than he did last night. Foremost, his headache was completely gone. All the events rushed back to him mere moments before he stretched and gave a loud yawn, some bones popping into their proper place in his spine. Quite frankly, he didn't feel any need to worry. Sure, he messed up every now and then when he got too much to drink, but there never were any long-lasting effects. The worst that had happened before was when he turned South Korea into a baby, and he was back to normal the next morning. Besides, the clock in the nightstand next to the guest bed read a quarter past twelve in the afternoon. Surely Matthew must be back to his proper place if the lad hadn't burst into his room if no change occurred.

Scratching his head, he made his way to the adjacent bathroom next to the room. He noticed a calendar pinned to the wall on his way, which read December three, yesterday's date. Tomorrow at noon the World Meeting at North Dakota would take place. He didn't look forward to Alfred bragging about how he couldn't hold his liquor…again.

At the bathroom, brushing his teeth with a sealed toothbrush his former charge always has on hand for impromptu visits to his house (regardless that the packages were gathering a think layer of dust), Arthur could hear something coming from the other side of the door of the bathroom, though not from the one he had used to enter. It sounded like…snoring?

_'Well, I know Matthew doesn't sleep in that room, since it's just another guest room, and not his own…' _he gurgled and spit into the sink, drying his face and hands with the small towel on the hanger by the wall, _'I wonder if more snow fairies are sleeping in that room.' _It could be possible. He certainly was surprised when he was brought to his room to find the small beings hiding under the covers, shy yet cute as they were.

Ignoring the saying of how curiosity killed the Cheshire Cat (he would know), he opened the other door and chanced a peek inside.

That…was definitively _not_ a fairy…

"What in the seven seas are YOU doing here! ?"

"Ahh—Yeowch!"

**Thud**

A grumble, then a string of curses in old German, some of which Arthur had grown to hear during the World Wars, came from the other side of the bed. Soon, a head of silver and red eyes peered over the edge from where Gilbert had hit the floor. "The hell…Eyebrows? Why are _you_ here?"

"I asked you first! Now answer!"

"Tch! I don't have to answer to you! At least I don't royally mess up when drunk!"

A healthy blush rose to Arthur's much more awakened face and stayed there. "B-Belt up, you twat!"

Gilbert was about to come up with a (hopefully) brilliant comeback, but the room's main door slamming open distracted him. There, standing in the doorway, was none other than the house's owner, Matthew Williams.

With rather large and teary eyes. Gilbert and Arthur had thought for a split second that they might've been of happiness, since he was supposed to be back to normal.

Well, until Matthew ran over and grabbed tight onto Arthur and started sobbing, still in a slightly-higher than normal voice.

Matthew was, undoubtedly, still a girl.

"Oh, fucking hell…" was the only thing that could pass the British man's lips when full realization that he might have, sort of, possibly screwed up bigger than he thought.

Despite all the thoughts rushing through Gilbert's mind, one of them being _'Yup, those jokes will never be the same again'_, the only one that he voiced was, "…And there's a World Meeting tomorrow, right?"

If possible, Matthew started crying harder, his former guardian holding him and rubbing his back in a way much too similar to how he would do to his colonies years ago. When he heard mumbled words against his chest, he pulled the girl a bit farther away, just so his mouth was no longer obstructed. "What's that, Matthew?"

Sniff, hiccup, "I-I don't kn-know how t-to," sniff, more tears, "how I-I'm going to-to…"

Arthur nodded, encouraging Matthew's jumbled speech.

He finally pushed the words out his mouth, "I d-don't know how to u-use the b-bathroom!"

Silence.

More hiccups and sniffs.

Arthur and Gilbert shared a look, both utterly stupefied, and without a proper answer for the Canadian. Matthew kept wiping the tears from his eyes.

Undoubtedly, the troubles of Matthew Williams – for now _female _representative of Canada, second largest nation in the world - were just starting.

* * *

**A/N: **Microsoft Word doesn't have the word gaydar in its vocabulary! XD I found this simply hilarious!

By the way, from the next chapter onwards, I'll be using the pronoun 'she' for Matthew instead of 'he', like I've been doing until now. Now that it's definite that Mattie will be staying as a girl for a while, it won't spoil or give away anything anymore~-shot repeatedly-

**Fanfic recommendation time~!** "Caught Out" by MorriganFearn! It is long and awesome (that's what Gil said! XD) It's a different take on PruCan and will satisfy any fan of the pairing~! Also, a personal thank you to Morrigan-F for not only the longest review for this story, but for making it so awesome and reach 20 reviews~! (So what if one of the reviews shouldn't count? 20 is 20!)

**Listen to** 'Pub & Go!' by England. By far one of the most famous Hetalia songs made yet, making it sung like crazy on YouTube, thus making it hard to find untouched. The ending is the most famous part of the song I think~. Oh Artie, you're so tsundere for America~ XD

Now if you'll excuse me, the wall behind me in the University library has been making creepy, _rattling_ sounds for a while now. And while it's possible that it's just Natalya looking for Ivan, my overactive-horror book-reading-imagination is telling me to run. So I will.

Review please~! Even if updates are late! They motivate me~!

-Runs away screaming-


	6. At the Meeting

Unexpected Changes

Chapter six: At the meeting

**A/n:** An update so soon? I spoil you~. Kidding, it's because this reached twenty-three reviews (all time favorite number~)! So everyone say thanks to Kitty's Muse for posting review number twenty-three and making this come out so soon~! Don't expect the next chapter to come out before next week, though :P

**Warnings: **OOC behavior, language, fail humor, fail British, and hints of father mode!Arthur.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Canako's looks or Hetalia. I'd already know what happened during the movie if I did…OTL**

**Words: Approx. 4,020 (last chapter was around 4,800 total words. Why did site say it was over 5,000?...)**

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew get's a late night visit from Gilbert, and finds no choice but to tell him about Arthur's mistake, hoping whatever he has will be gone by morning. However, the next day rolls by and Matthew is still in the body of a girl. With a World Meeting taking place the next day, what will Matthew, Gilbert and Arthur do?

* * *

Although his days as a world feared empire were long since gone, Arthur still had many fond …and not so fond… memories of the old days. Most details he would never forget, such as every single independence of each and every one of his colonies and every single war he participated in. Among these memories were the first weeks after he got a new colony. The one he remembered having the most problem with (because all colonies were troublemakers in their younger years, especially Alfred once he got the idea to rebel) was Zoe, also known as New Zealand. The reason was because Zoe was, and still is, the only colony he had to take care of that was female. Not that it bothered her much, so long as no one tried to cook her sheep _(again),_ she would behave as a calm boy most of the time.

Needless to mention, growing up with a little boyish girl nation was embarrassing once she started being potty trained and became a teenager.

Now, all these years later, Arthur was glad his years of suffering many awkward moments would pay off in some other way.

"Are you _sure_ this is how girls do it? They don't stand?" Matthew asked from inside the bathroom for what seemed like the tenth time.

"I'm bloody sure! Now hurry up and finish or _I'll_ go in there and make _you_ do it!"

It was only when Matthew went unusually quiet and Gilbert started snickering that the full implication of his words sunk in. He buried his face in his hand, the other gripping his shirt in an attempt to not strangle _something_.

"Y-you know that's not what I meant!" Arthur's blush rivaled that of Lovino's whenever Antonio would pull his curl.

"Pervert," Kumajirou's voice sounded stoic and indifferent. Gilbert couldn't hold back anymore and was doubled over fully laughing while clutching his stomach, fighting to get air back in his lungs.

Arthur sighed deeply, willed his blush to go away, and turned to the door once more, speaking in a calm yet shaky tone. "Do as I said, Matthew. I'm a hundred percent sure. As soon as you're proper, came down to the kitchen. We'll be waiting there."

Grabbing the bear in one arm and dragging Gilbert by the back of the shirt with his other, Arthur left the room. There were quite important matters to discuss. Just thinking about it made Arthur's headache start to come back.

* * *

Once inside the kitchen, Arthur unceremoniously let go of Gilbert's shirt, making the albino hit the floor. That made him only feel slightly better. He proceeded to, more gently, put Kumajirou on a chair. When the Prussian rubbed the bump slowly forming on the back of his head, he gave Arthur a glare. "You could've been a _little_ more careful!"

Arthur ignored that and went straight to what had been bothering him earlier, "I must ask, did you break in or the likes? Just _what_ are you doing here?"

Gilbert rose from the ground and sat on a chair besides the bored bear cub. He waved his hand in the air lazily, as if the matter wasn't important, "All the nations got kicked out of the bar so I decided to crash here since Ita-cakes drove West back to the hotel."

"And exactly _why _did you choose the lad's house instead of some other place?"

"What's it to ya', Eyebrows?" he scoffed.

Arthur crossed his arms and gave the albino a glare similar to the one he used whenever he attacked other ships at sea, "I'm the lad's _father_, why _wouldn't_ it concern me!"

_'Ah, right. Probably not my smartest comeback…'_ Gilbert sighed and looked out the window. He'd been friends with the quiet kid for around a year and a half now, ever since April fools last year... Time sure flies by… "Chill, we're friends. I've crashed here a few times before and stuff."

Although he raised a giant eyebrow questioningly, the other decided not to push the issue further. He hadn't known Matthew and Gilbert were acquaintances, but the kid's lack of surprise at the albino's presence confirmed Gilbert's claim to some extent. Hate as he might to admit it, Arthur hadn't really bothered knowing much about Matthew's personal life. Sure, they tolerated each other better than the other two members of their close 'family', but to the present day, Arthur still accidentally confused the younger nation with his twin brother. _'Though with the current situation, I'd be near impossible to do that anymore...'_

"I-I'm done n-now…"

Both nations turned to the doorway to see Matthew standing nervously, avoiding eye contact and playing with the hem of his…err, her, oversized hockey jersey again. When she noticed both men's eyes on her, she quickly went over to Kumajirou and picked him up, sitting on the previously occupied seat while hugging her friend to her chest while blushing.

Kumajirou shifted under his owner's squeezing, "Soft but uncomfortable …"

Gilbert burst out laughing again and Matthew blushed harder, loosening her grip until the bear sighed, content. Arthur gave a loud cough to gain the other's attentions and look serious. It didn't really work while he had his own blush attacking his face.

"A-Anyway!" he started, "I need to talk to you about why I think Matthew didn't revert this morning." Matthew, Gilbert, and even Kumajirou were paying very close attention now, "In all honesty, _something_ must've happened this time that was different from every other time I've been…intoxicated…"

"Different…how?" Gilbert asked. He changed position on his chair so now his front was against the back of the chair and his arms were over the top, supporting his head.

Arthur leaned against one of the countertops, arms still crossed as he voiced his thoughts. "Well, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I've changed people before while drunk, and they've always turned back after a couple of hours. You can ask Yao and Kiku if you doubt me…"

"Oh yeah…Kiku told me once that he and Yao had to deal with a baby Yong Soo…I thought he was drunk of something, or just extremely tired. Guess he meant this…" Gilbert mentioned. Matthew only nodded to show she was following so far. Frankly, she still felt quite tired (learning how to get used to a different body will do that to a person) and didn't feel like wasting energy by contradicting anyone or by throwing a fit for still being a girl.

"Well, when I transformed South Korea, he became normal merely five hours afterwards (he'd know, Japan had left many voicemails asking for a cure, but his last one said the situation had been reversed on its own. Since he recalled nothing, England was thoroughly surprised to find his inbox full of collect calls from his friend). Same with any other time I've done something similar. Therefore, the only logical conclusion I can fathom is that this time was somehow different." Turning to his son-now-daughter, he spoke again, "Matthew, try to recall last night. Exactly what happened?"

The girl tilted her head back a little, remembering the exact moment when everything happened. "I was drinking, and I started feeling bad, almost sick. Then I saw you laughing at me…saying something about Alfred and how your concoction would be his fall," she missed the way Arthur's eyes slightly widened and sparkled at her words, "and then I got this weirded-out version of vertigo, and ran to the bathroom to throw up."

Gilbert tilted his head to the side, "Sounded like you just got too drunk, to me. It's normal to drink and puke, Matt."

"B-but I hadn't taken that much yet! That's what got me so worried!" she protested.

"I get it now…" Arthur murmured, almost to himself. He gathered his thoughts and spoke louder, "I had mixed together a potion to slip into the git's food to give him a bad time, you know, a small curse to shut him up for a while."

Matthew and Gilbert seemed to be thinking the same thing…

"D-dad?..Did you make a potion to turn Al into a girl..?"

Apparently Arthur wasn't expecting this, _at all_, since he proceeded to choke violently on air.

"Pervert," both the bear and the Prussian chorused out in equally stoic voices.

"WH-WHAT! No! No, not at all! Who do you think I am- that bloody frog or something? I just planned to transform him into a left-handed weasel!"

"…A left-handed..?"

"…weasel, eh..?"

"Exactly!" he exclaimed it as if it was the most rational thing in the world. "Not only would he be defenseless, but disoriented! Quite ingenious, if I do say so myself." Arthur seemed so proud of his idea, Matthew and Gilbert silently agreed not to comment on the plain absurdity of said plan.

"…Back on topic. I'm a girl now, not a weasel. I hardly see how those things are relevant…"

"Right. Well, the only difference between this time and any other time is the potion. Surely I must've mixed it into your drink by accident, though why you're a lady right now and not a weasel is beyond my comprehension… Most likely, either I mixed the ingredients incorrectly, or I added something while I was drunk. I've never even heard of a gender-changing potion before. What a mess…"

Canada lowered her gaze to the top of Kumajirou's head. Exactly what did this mean? Sure they found the missing link, but now they had to check whether the potion was done wrong or whether some unknown factor occurred to it. She felt that every time she took one step forward, she took two back.

"Well, we can check that later, we have all the time in the world, right?"

"…" Arthur turned to the side at an attempt to not seem obvious that he was avoiding Matthew's question.

"…_right_, Arthur?"

"Well-"

"Tabernak! _More_ problems?"

The Englishman winced lightly at the blatant use of French, though he proceeded to explain himself. "All changes by potion have an equal lifespan which determines how long until they become…well, immune to reversal, since the body fully adapts to whatever change it went through…"

"In other words, they become permanent." Gilbert cut in.

"In simple terms, yes. That timeline is usually a year."

Matthew turned a sickly shade of pale, rivaling the color of Kumajirou's fur. "Y-you mean, we have until _new year's? _We have _less_ than _thirty days?_"

"No! No, we have a full year," he cut in, giving his charge a little peace of mind, "We have until December the fourth of next year."

Matthew regained some of her natural color and gave a long, tired sigh. "That's better than what I thought… Since we have quite some time, we should focus our priorities. Mainly, how am I going to do for the meeting of tomorrow?"

Gilbert laid a hand on the blonde's head and ruffled it, much to her annoyance, though she said nothing, "No worries, Birdie! You can just tag along; I doubt anyone would notice you, anyway…"

"…I'd kick your butt if that wasn't so true… So I'll just go listen in a corner or something?"

"It might work. You've been pretty easy to miss most of your life, lad… Always won against Alfred at hide and seek, didn't you?"

"Actually, it's more like his attention span ran out and he forgot he was looking for me—hey! Just because it's true doesn't mean it doesn't bother me!"

The albino grinned, a sudden fact making itself known in his head, and really, it just made the situation even more hilarious (for him, for Matthew…not so much), "So get ready for tomorrow, Birdie! And remember than the dress code doesn't include going commando!"

Matthew paled, Arthur blushed, Kumajirou snorted. And Gilbert just sat there with a shit-eating grin. Even if it was the expense of someone else, this was the most fun he had bothering someone since the war of Austrian succession.

* * *

December fifth rolled around by and the father-daughter duo found itself walking toward the conference room in which the World Meeting would take place. Kumajirou had refused to tag along, protesting that whenever Matthew got overly nervous, she would always squeeze the life out of the bear. This had proved true when she went shopping yesterday for female clothes (not too many, since she had no intention of staying female for long. It would just be a waste of money and closet space). Throughout the whole…experience…she had squeezed Kumajirou tightly, which was harder for him to bare -no pun intended- since he had to act as a stuffed doll inside the shopping mall. That's the reason why the polar cub found himself lounging around at Matthew's home in Manitoba while Matthew herself was having a nervous breakdown. So far, nothing had happened, but her nerves were on an all-time high. She kept wringing her fingers between each other, her clothes not designed to be torn to shreds by nervous hands.

She wore a long beige coat. Under it was a long sleeved shirt with button designs on the front. The store clerk had said it was both cute and quite formal, making Arthur all but agree to buy them. He had tagged along to make sure she didn't go ahead and just buy clothes that would look like whatever they had for people five times her size, which she had every intention of doing. If left alone, she would've bought a giant Snuggle and worn it to the meeting, just to hide under it. She also had a long skirt that reached a little past her knees…how that employee had convinced her to buy it and not some dress pants she had grabbed will forever remain a mystery. Those store helpers were _good_… At least they helped her with her underwear problem, though not without some weird glances directed at her way first. She wore some decent looking shoes (her shoe size changed as well, apparently) with some white socks.

In what Gilbert explained as 'making her look less like Canada and more like a random person', she wore her hair in twin pigtails with her long bangs pushed to the sides by dual red hairclips. Gilbert wanted her to wear a white beret he found at her house (from a visit France did years ago), but both Arthur and her denied. Matthew because she wasn't a dress-up doll and Arthur because she was 'unfortunate enough to know French and didn't need anything else remotely connected to the wine idiot'. (Somewhere, Francis sneezed, missing his chance to flirt with an American waitress.) Now Matthew wished she had that beret, if only to wring it between her hands to calm down a little.

This meeting was vital to Canada, the nation. When she mentioned to her Prime Minister what happened, she was told to keep her identity a complete and total secret. If any non-amiable nations (like Russia and becoming one or Denmark with his obsession over Greenland) found out of this change, they might take advantage to attack or affect Canada in a moment of weakness. Though she knew perfectly the point he made, it didn't help her worries ease—at all. She couldn't just _miss_ the meeting. In the off-chance that something regarding Canada came up, she couldn't leave it to England or Prussia to speak in her place. Not only wasn't England in charge of her anymore, but Prussia wasn't a nation anymore either. It was out of habit that he was still allowed to attend these events, more than out of duty or necessity. Since no-one could protect Canada were she missing, she had to attend. Which brought up another problem: if something regarding Canada came up, how would she justify her interference? Granted, if the proposal was positive, she could remain quiet…

Then again, most proposals made regarding Canada were brought on by her twin, which always justifies his actions by saying that Canada backed him a hundred percent. Complete and utter bullsh-

"Calm down, Matthew. I'm sure all with go along swimmingly," Arthur's words were comforting, if only a little.

Matthew sighed, and clenched the conference doorknob tightly in her shaky and sweaty hand, "I hope so…"

* * *

Ludwig, human personification of Germany, was completely sure something was wrong with his brother.

On past years, when Prussia was still an un-dissolved nation, Ludwig was able to tell straight away whenever his older sibling felt uncomfortable, worried, or more often than not, bored. It might've had something to do with his brother always causing trouble and generally being irresponsible. It quickly turned into a sixth-sense of sorts, in which every change regarding Germany and Prussia was felt by both brothers. Now that he couldn't simply _feel_ Gilbert's country-related emotions, he let himself be guided by other factors, other twitches and changes in attitude or personality. One obvious quirk Gilbert showed was that he had a tendency to sneeze whenever he felt bored, strange as it may sound. Another habit was that he'd start tapping his past national anthem on the conference table whenever he waited for a meeting to start. At the moment, he laid perfectly still, a far away look on his eyes; eyebrows crouched in concentration, not doing any kind of action. This unnerved the German more than Italy when he failed to launch a grenade correctly by biting the explosive and throwing away the pin.

At least the Italian hand bombs had a tendency to fail to explode; Gilbert, however, always had a short yet certain fuse.

The fact he hadn't exploded in some long tirade regarding how awesome he was or how the world meetings were made of boring and unimportant bastards except for himself was unsettling. In the very least, he expected him to start whining about how he hadn't been allowed to drink much two nights ago.

Figures he would start getting a headache before the meeting even began…

* * *

As Matthew pushed the door open, she was glad to quickly notice that many nations were bustling about, making loud noises and not paying any particular attention to anything outside their own talk circles. After trying, unsuccessfully, to use Arthur as a human shield ("Honestly, we don't even sit on the other side of the conference room. It's a short walk, poppet! You'll be fine."), she sat on her chair, located near the head of the long desk in between Arthur's and Francis', and made certain to not attract any attention by staying as silent and as still as possible. Arthur was currently distracted by both Francis trying to 'show his talent in _l'amour_' and America already telling him his 'amazing plan to make friends with aliens when they land on Earth once again'.

When looking around, she caught sight of Prussia sitting besides Poland and Germany, looking oddly…calm. She chanced a wave and, upon focusing his sight on her, Gilbert waved back. He quickly turned to his brother though, who seemed to be asking something quite serious, which just made Gilbert burst out laughing and make Ludwig grow lightly red.

Matthew continued scanning the room, and mentally crossed her fingers, hoping all went well.

* * *

For once, ever since the meeting began, no unusual outbursts, outrageous claims, loud insults, sexual advances of dubious consent or acts of disorderly conduct occurred. Sure it was only twenty minutes in, but it was still impressive, nonetheless. Arthur was rather surprised and content with the way the meeting was progressing.

Unfortunately, America decided to interrupt in the middle of Netherland's speech about some economical instability near Eastern Europe he neither listened to nor cared much about. Slamming his fists on the table, he loudly got everyone's attention the same way he always did: being obnoxious. "The Hero demands to ask what, no doubt, has been on everyone's mind! And we want the truth!"

A chorus of facepalms sounded throughout the room and mumbles about reading the atmosphere rang about. Netherlands sat down, knowing from experience that he would be unable to finish was he started anytime soon.

Alfred stood and pointed directly to his left, precisely where Arthur seemed to be sitting (fighting the urge to stand and throttle his former son) and demanded loudly, "Iggy, we all want to know who exactly that country sitting next to you is!"

Matthew swore her heart skipped a beat, though not for joyous reasons. Arthur gulped and somewhere on the other side of the room, Gilbert cursed.

Seeing that Matthew was visibly shaking and unable to make coherent noises, Arthur stood and yelled at America to use some of the tact he had tried to drill into his head years ago. Matthew continued to play with her hands once again, trying to ignore the looks of the nations around the world looking at her and her family. She wasn't used to having so much attention on her so suddenly. Sure, she could play hockey without problems, but that was when she was 'in the zone', so to speak, and she specialized in sniper shooting and spying during battles and wars mainly to stay _out _of the spotlight… Her Prime minister was going to _kill_ her wasn't he? She racked her head for some way out of the slowly growing mess without getting out that she was Canada and…whose hand was that slowly creeping up her shoulder?

"_Angleterre,_ how could you possibly try to keep this beautiful young lady to yourself~!" Matthew grew pale at the obviously wrong assumption and Arthur was shocked into silence, "I am Francis Bonnefoy," he kissed her hand and confused her blush for shyness, instead of mortification, "The pleasure is all mine-"

"Keep your hands to yourself, bloody frog!"

"Iggy! Don't ignore the Hero!"

"Aiyaa! Will you stop being so immature, aru? !"

"Ve~, Doitsu? Who's the cute _signora _over there?"

"I'm not sure, Italy. She appears to be an acquaintance of England's-"

"Hey, Ita-cakes just called her cute. You've got competition, West! Kesese~"

"Shut up, _bruder_…"

"U-um…could you please let go of my hand, France?..."

"Like, her shirt is so totally cute! Liet, that shirt would totally look cute on me too, right?"

"Fusoso, she looks almost as red as you get, Lovi~"

"D-don't call me that you damn tomato bastard!"

"Hohohon~, no need to be so shy, we are all friends here~"

"E-eek! _Where _are you touching? ! "

"Wh-What! Frog! I'll beat off your whiskers like I did in the Seven Year's War!"

"Hahaha! Nice fight!"

"America-san, it may be rude to laugh…"

"We should follow France's advice, брат. Let's get married!"

"**BANG! **Shut up! You're upsetting Liechtenstein!"

Most people quieted after that, but some were still talking to each other, used to Vash's threats. Matthew now stood between Alfred, who was laughing, and Arthur and France fighting. She was still shivering, but mostly from being molested by France. He was her other father figure for crying out loud! Even if France himself wasn't aware, that was just wrong! Matthew rubbed her hands over her arms, easing into a nearby empty seat. She had sat on America's, which just happened to be near Russia's new seat (he moved after Belarus' last request at marriage), still shaking a little.

"Ha, you shake so much, dа? Did Latvia turn into a little shaking girl?"

By pure instinct, Matthew slammed her hands on the huge desk. "I'M CANADA!"

At that very moment, all noise died down, and all eyes snapped towards Matthew after her outburst. She mentally cursed every word she new in English, and then cursed in Quebecois when she ran out. Arthur had frozen in place, his hands grabbed tightly onto Francis' silk shirt's collar, mouth agape and mentally freaking out. Gilbert, who had grown bored of teasing his brother a while ago and had started bothering Roderich's 'cheapness' just to mess with him and Elizaveta, had frozen in place as well, eyes widening a bit (partially because of how loud Matthew had been able to raise her voice). Every other nation was in a similar state, looking at the mystery girl, the whole room covered in silence.

"…"

"…"

'…_Maple…_'

"…"

"…"

"Awkward silence originated in Korea, da ze~!"

Maybe, if Matthew bashed her head hard enough against the desk, she could get a concussion and pretend this never happened…Who was she kidding? With her luck, that would somehow also blow up in her face.

'I should've stayed with Kumasoya at home…'

* * *

**A/N: **Left-handed weasels: slightly more uncoordinated than right-handed weasels. Available on E-bay.

The one liners go like this: England, America, China, Italy, Germany, Prussia, Germany again, Canada, Poland, Spain, Romano, france, Canada, England, America, Japan, Belarus, and Switzerland and his gun, in case someone didn't know.

Gilbert and Kiku are tight. It's cannon. No joke.

_(Hope this answered your question, Demon-Kagetsuki~! -shot-)_

**If you like this**, I'm sure you'll like _'Relationship status: It's complicated'_ by crackberries. Actually, any PruCan crackberries writes is worthy of being read five times. They're THAT awesome!

'_Paris is Indeed Splendid/Rippa Yappa Pari'_ is a character song of France. The chorus is quite catchy, but then again, it's France, so around three minutes in, he starts being his perverted self…and I got a little scared listening to him O_O That's as closed as I've ever come to being molested XD

Thanks for reading, alerting and reviewing! It really makes me happy so many people like this story, so please keep it up with the fantabulous reviews ~!


	7. Kanata, Vinland, New France, Canada and

Unexpected Changes

Chapter seven: Kanata, Vinland, New France, Canada, and…

**A/n:** Yay~! I reached 30+ reviews! Wowzers, I got so many…The last chapter got the most reviews I've gotten yet for a story…EEK! –faints of happiness-

Apparently, a handful of you guys like the fail humor. That makes me happy, too~!

**Warnings: **POSSIBLE HISTORICAL INNACURACY, OOC behavior, fail humor, fail British and Australian, harsh language, fail try at some type of angsty flashback scene of sorts or something, and protective family members.

Oh, and _any thoughts any character might've had at one time are only there to help the story move. I __**do not**__ think in that way whatsoever. _Sorry if I happen to offend some proud Canadians or Americans or something, it's not my intention!

Here you go~! A super-special-awesome-long-chapter!

**Words: Approx 5,700**

* * *

-Recap-

With new clothes, more information and a mission, Canada attends the world meeting having faith that her invisibility will work to her advantage and make her go unnoticed. Her boss explains her condition _must_ remain secret for Canada's own safety, but apparently, her invisibility didn't work as according to plan…Oh yeah, and she might've accidentally shouted out she's Canada. Whoops…

* * *

Aside from Yong Soo's completely expected outburst, the Conference room remained bathed in silence. It was greatly unnerving, as never had total silence reigned over the room while still inhabited by nations before. With every second that ticked by on the clock hanged on the wall behind Matthew's seat, the nation felt that she died a little more on the inside. Her heart was thumping so loudly she was afraid it would jump out of her chest just like Russia's tended to do. Aside from a particularly loud yawn from one of Greece's cats, the silence remained until Taiwan bravely decided to break it.

"Umm…" the sudden looks of every nation in the world directed at her caused the Asian girl's voice to slightly falter, "E-Excuse my asking, but…who?"

As if those were the magic words to un-mute the room, voices once again mixed together, this time asking each other exactly _what_ Canada was and _where_ was it located.

Matthew, Gilbert and Arthur all let out collective sighs, and just this once, Matthew felt glad that she had been easy to overlook. She briefly wondered why she wasn't as 'see-through' as when she was a male, but decided she'd investigate later.

However, it would be virtually impossible for every nation in the world to forget what Canada was, at least, all at the same time. So it was only natural for some nations, such as Netherlands and Ukraine, to still be regarding Matthew with wary eyes, even more confused than the other nations asking away their doubts.

So really, the Canadian shouldn't have been so surprised when her own brother turned and spoke to her.

"…Canada?..." his tone of voice took her by surprise. It was incredulous, as if wanting to confirm in his mind that he had heard her wrong. His face showed denial, confusion and…worry?

In that single second that the North American twins' eyes met, many thought passed through Matthew's mind. She felt guilt, to start. She felt it was selfish to be avoiding her friends and family like the plague because of her condition. Aside from Gilbert, Kumahiru and Arthur, Matthew had no plans whatsoever to make contact with any other nations while in this state. Ever since those years in which Kiku had sealed himself shut in his house, not many other nations had tried isolationism. It definitely would be the safest way; she'd trust Arthur to find some sort of counter potion, she'd have to trust Gilbert wouldn't let anything slip (she had yet to remind him to stay silent no matter what), and she'd stay in her house, alone, with only Kumajirou as constant company, and she would spend her time cleaning or working years of paperwork in advance. And all her other friends or family members would remain oblivious of her until she was back to normal. For however long it took, Matthew had unconsciously accepted that she would basically disappear of the face of the Earth. For her people's sake; for Canada's sake.

But would that really be the best option? Wasn't there another alternative? Wasn't there a better choice? Was there _some_ way to still attend meetings safely? A way for her to still be around nations without there being any dangers hanging above her head?

Matthew still remembered, back when she was still a baby boy many years ago, when similar complications arose. A time when he was alone, with no one to associate with…

* * *

_The first time he was ever conscious, when he was just recently born, Vikings had crossed the seas and landed on his shores. They found him and took him in as one of their own. They gave him his first words, first sights, first sounds, first tastes…and then, just as quickly as they came, they left. For years he remained alone, wandering all around his vast lands, searching for anyone. Whenever he would find people, natives to his lands, they would run or keep their distance from him, fearing by his appearance and unchanging youth that he was a spirit that would not take kindly upon them were he to be angered. So, he would march on, hoping he would find at least one person to call a friend or, dare he even think it, a family which he could call his own. He spent so much time in isolation, until one day, a ship approached from the horizon, towards his land, and he was surrounded by people again. The boy was overjoyed. Even though these new travelers were not the Vikings who had spent time with him on his first days (Weeks? Months? Years? He couldn't even remember anymore) of consciousness, they were still kind and amiable. An elegant man had taken him in, as if they had been family forever, and as the boy learned to call him 'papa', he had never felt happier. His papa, France, had asked him if he had a name yet._ _Truth was, he had: Kanata was his birth name, the only word he knew the moment he had been born, and was apparently the name his natives called the land; Vinland had been what the Viking settlers had named him. But whenever he remembered those names, the painful pangs of loneliness would hit his tiny little heart. It would make his chest feel heavy, it would hurt, and he'd feel like crying. Not anymore, he decided. He didn't want to feel like that anymore. He wanted, even if he was only allowed to sit in the sidelines, to be among others again. They could call him what they wanted to; they could change his beliefs and his way of life so far; they could simply use him and keep him around as cannon fodder or a tool to be used._ Anything, whatever _it would take, but he didn't want to be alone anymore… Thus, his life as Mathieu Bonnefoy, Nouvelle France, began. Eventually, he was lost in war and became Arthur's colony, but even then, he still had his precious Kumajirou. Francis had given him to Mathieu not only as a reminder of his time as France's son, but as a constant companion to have with him as he lived in a new house filled with many other colonies that wouldn't be able to speak French. Kumajirou always had trouble remembering him, probably because the moment the two got acquainted was at a moment went Canada itself was going through an identity crisis at the sudden leadership change, making Canada seem like many different things all at the same time, but Mathieu had never had a more loyal companion to keep him company at nights when he was ignored by everyone or forgotten. A true friend on those nights when he would cry himself to sleep, afraid of all the changes cursing through his lands and his people._

_But even back then, he _had_ been truly happy. Even as his mind seemed to split between bilingual thoughts, or even when he was often forgotten when dinner time came around, or when Arthur made it official that his name would be Matthew and not Mathieu, or even he was confused for his erringly similar neighbor-turned-brother, Alfred, he had been happy. He was surrounded by people, and he wasn't alone as he had been years before Francis found him. Even if his troops hadn't received the recognition they deserved during the world wars…even if he wasn't always heard during the conferences…even if he became an independent nation but not many people noticed…he wasn't alone._

And now he…_she,_ was Canada. She had grown enough to take care of herself. She had two wonderfully loving fathers, countless brothers and sisters, an obnoxious but well-meaning twin brother, and friends that have helped her through thick and thin. She might be hard to spot and may have a tendency to fade into the background, but she wasn't alone. She hadn't been for centuries, and she'd be damned if some stupid mistake would take her happiness away! She was Matthew Bonnefoy Kirkland Williams! Second largest nation on the planet! She was perfectly capable of taking a situation and changing it to her liking! She was _fucking Canada!_

And as all those thoughts, memories and emotions passed through her mind in less than a second, she stared firmly into America's eyes. And before she opened her mouth to answer him, one last, clear memory flashed before her.

"_Remember the Hero's advice, Mattie! This is the main rule you have to live life by! If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit!"_

* * *

Arthur distantly registered the sound of Francis' body hitting the floor as he let go of the shirt's collar and made his way towards Matthew and Alfred. The room had once again lowered in volume, with only some whispers heard here and there, as everyone watched the two blondes face each other.

"Yes."

Such a simple word, really. One syllable, three letters, has many synonyms…yet when Matthew spoke it, and to confirm Alfred's doubt no less, it made both Gilbert and Arthur freeze up. Actually, Arthur sort of stumbled in surprise (and Francis' conveniently placed foot) and landed on the floor.

_'Bollocks, that _hurt_…'_

"Yes," repeated Matthew, posture proud and unshaken, confidence glowing in her eyes, "I _am _Canada…" It was her next words that made everyone else in the conference room become even more confused that before, "The province of Quebec to be exact."

And Arthur's train of thought crashed in a blast that would've put the Fourth of July fireworks to shame.

"Wha..?" It was refreshing to see the utterly stupefied look on Alfred's face.

"What?" came Gilbert's reply from the other side of the table, still frozen from when he had still been bothering Roderich while Elizaveta's frying pan now hovered motionless, dangerously close to his cranium.

"Wh-But-And-What! ?" spluttered and sneezed England from his position on the floor. Seriously, they needed to have those rugs cleaned…

"_Isn't that right, Arthur?_" Matthew grabbed her father's forearm and helped him stand back up (not before he shot Francis a murderous glare for tripping him in the first place).

Arthur snapped his head at Matthew to discreetly hiss out just _what_ was she doing, but his words caught in his throat with one look from Matthew's eyes. Her eyes showed that she wanted one thing and one thing only from Arthur: his cooperation. Her gaze was firm, unrelenting; quite honestly, Arthur had no idea how he or anyone else could forget the girl when she could hold such raw emotions with just her sight.

"Th-that's completely true…" he avoided the way Gilbert was now looking at both of them as if they'd lost their marbles, "Canada was…too busy to attend…" he trailed off in a nervous laugh before he lowered his voice to whisper to Matthew when he was sure no one would hear _"Just _what_ are you thinking?.!"_

"_Just follow my lead!_" she whispered back before turning to everyone else with a bright smile. It was virtually impossible to tell she was lying. "The actual nation of Canada was busy with work back home, so I'll be Canada's substitute representative until Matthew, that's Canada, is able to attend again! It's nice to meet everyone, and I hope you won't mind me being here."

Matthew kept smiling innocently. _'That's right. I can lie as well as Alfred when I want to. And I think I did a pretty good job, if I say so myself!'_

Most people seemed convinced by that answer, though many still were confused as to _where_ Canada was located.

"That sounds pretty fishy to me…" everyone turned to the speaker, Alfred, "I mean, that's like saying I was too busy to come here, so I sent Texas instead," he pointed to his glasses to show how absurb he thought the idea was, "I don't even think it's possible for states or provinces to be represented by humans," Alfred was still staring intently at England and Canada, not completely convinced by the explanation.

'_Figures the _one time_ he pays attention to me has to be to my disadvantage…' _Matthew tried her best not to tell him to be quiet and be happy with her explanation. She was racking her brain to come up with some solid excuse. _'Just accept it like a normally oblivious person!'_

"Actually, Alfred-san…" everyone turned to Kiku, "It's perfectly common. Osaka, Yokohama and Kyoto are all cities of mine, and they have human representatives. I don't think Canada-san's province is any different."

'_Thank you, Kiku!'_ Matthew, Arthur and Gilbert were all thinking the same thing.

"But! But!" Alfred flailed his arms, turned to Arthur and pointing at him, "Why would Mattie tell _you_ about this and not _me_? I'M the Hero _and _his twin! I should've known first! Besides, _I _could've taken his notes!"

As Matthew face palmed at his stubborn nature, Arthur drew attention from her away by answering, "Well, _maybe_ because you would've pulled Matthew along no matter the circumstances or something equally irrational. Not to mention all your notes revolve around fast food chains and aliens!"

Canada was slightly surprised by her father's quick and logical response. Maybe he was more than comfortable coming up with lies when it mattered as well. Maybe she got that from _his_ side of the family..?

"Hmp!" Alfred sat down on his chair, clearly not liking that his twin wouldn't have told him about 'Quebec'. It made Matthew feel a little more guilt. If he felt like this _now, _how would he react if he ever found out about the curse? She gulped, and shook her head. That _wouldn't_ happen. She'd get rid of the spell soon enough. She was sure.

"Well then," Francis had long ago stood and dusted the dirt from his clothes after Arthur dropped him and had been paying attention to the exchange all along. After the superpower had laid subdued on his chair like a child scolded for making a mess, Francis addressed the young 'Quebec', hands staying on sight after the Englishman shot him a rather strong glare. "Might I be the first to ask you your name, _Mademoiselle_?"

On instinct, Matthew answered, "I'm Matt—eh…" she suddenly panicked, not having thought of a fake name, and almost saying her real one. She turned to Arthur, who had paled as well upon her slip, but seemed clueless as to how to help.

"Matte? What a weird name…" Francis rubbed his stubble in thought.

Canada decided to do what she had been doing for the rest of the day; she improvised. "No, I'm M-Matteh…Madde- Madeline! My name's Madeline. Sorry, I just blanked out there for some reason! Hehehe…" Inside she was smacking herself with the fury of a thousand angry Cubans. 'Why_ am I so awkward sometimes?..._'

She wondered about the way Arthur's face soured and Francis' lightened. "Ah~, A perfect French-like name for a girl~. It might be weird that it sounds so much like Mon petite Mathieu's name, but it can't be helped."

"Ahh…" so _that's_ why Arthur seems grumpy. She chose a French name for herself. She sighed at both her parent's childlikeness.

Before the Frenchman sat down once again, he shot 'Madeline' a wink and merely said "Welcome, Madeline, to the craziness that is the World Meetings!"

'_Craziness_,' pondered the Canadian. She sat back down in her chair between England's and France's. '_Yup, that sounds about right._'

Once things quieted once more, Germany decided it was high time to continue the meeting from where it dropped off. Netherlands once more took the center and began his report. Things were back to normal once more. There were, as always, a few nations whispering to themselves, some others taking some siestas, and others just plain doodling on their notepads. Like everyone knew, most nations didn't bother to pay attention to these things anymore, and simply looked at it like they would to high school classes: there were many people sitting down, there would always be someone at the head of the class, some students might be interested at what happened, but most would just ignore everything in favor of other things. Madeline—uh, Mathieu, wait Matthew…_Canada_ was perfectly content with this. At least all attention was off her at the moment.

After a few minutes, she felt her skirt pocket vibrating. She secretly pulled out her cellphone and saw that she just received a text message. Since this was quite uncommon, she decided to open it. Lars had called her around two weeks earlier to discuss what he would say in front of the others, so she already knew what he would say and knew she wouldn't miss out anything important from the speech.

_From: Alfred F. Jones_

_To: Matthew Williams_

_Message: Heeeeeeey Mattie! Yo, izzit true u sent ur luv child or sumding down here n told Iggy but NOT me? ! OAO I'm ur BRO! U should tell me dis things!_

_~The U S of Friggin' A!_

Matthew looked a few seats to her side and indeed her brother had his brand new I-phone out, tapping away like crazy. She rolled her eyes and quickly sent out a reply.

_From: Matthew Williams_

_To: Alfred F. Jones_

_Message: Yes, Al. I sent Madeline to the meeting 'cause I'm busy the moment. And he was visiting, so I told Arthur first._

_P.S: I've told you a thousand times already: I'm _NOT _dating Lady Gaga so stop saying I have illegitimate children and secret dates. I'm starting to think that other nations believe it when you Photoshop pictures with me and her on Facebook. Honestly, just because her boyfriend and I have the same name..._

_~Canadian please_

Merely two minutes later, Alfred received the text and frowned again. He sent back a simple a reply.

_From: Alfred F. Jones_

_To: Matthew Williams_

_Message: Fine broski, b in denial. PEOPLE MAGAZINE DON'T LIE! Just dun cry 2 me wen u need a 2012 bonker, 'cuz Im soooo not lettin' u in!_

_~The U S of Friggin' A!_

...And he continued to ignore the meeting.

Later on, Matthew leaned towards Arthur and tugged slightly on his sleeve to get his attention. Arthur sent her a look that showed he didn't believe they should be ignoring the speaker, even though most people were sleeping by now. It was Heracles' turn at the front and he had a tendency to take unusually long to say simple statements…when he didn't accidentally fall asleep while standing. Italy had often said how he wish he could learn to do the same, then maybe Germany would take longer to notice he wasn't paying attention at training ... no one bothered ruining Feliciano's dream by saying Ludwig would still notice, because he was _that_ much of an expert on Italy by now.

Canada leaned in an whispered to Arthur, careful that someone who would tell them to pay attention wouldn't notice she was speaking to him (mainly Germany).

"I wanted to thank you for the support a few minutes ago. I'm sure lying was the only way out…"

Arthur gave her an uncharacteristic, but still honest, smile. "It's fine, poppet. Just took me by surprise for a moment. Don't mention it."

Matthew's face positively beamed and a slight blush adorned her cheeks, "Still, _merci beaucoup._"

And Francis', who's attention had been taken by Madeline suddenly leaning away and giving a nice yet subtle view of her…'backside'... caught her last line and squealed loudly, not caring that he cut off Greece's speech and caught everyone's attention.

He then launched forward and pulled Matthew in a strong hug, his stubbly chin nuzzling her cheek, "Madeline's French is soooo _adorable~!_"

"_Gott_, France! Don't interrupt the meeting for that!"

"V-veeeEEeee! _Doitsu_ is being scaaaaaary!"

"_C-chigi!_ I told you to stay away from the potato bastard, _Idiota!_"

"Hahahahahaha!"

"Belt up, America!"

"Aniki's breast belong to me, da ze~!"

"AIYAAA!"

"Everyone's having so much fun~! Don't you think so, Latvia? Kolkolkolkolkol."

"LATVIAAAAA!"

"Liet! Like, listen to me when I'm asking you about my shoes!"

"брат, don't you want to get married to me now? Marrymarrymarrymarrymarry…"

"Go away go away go away go AWAY!"

"E-eek! Francis! Y-your hands!"

"Uh-oh, I think Francis' is conquering Maddie's vital regions, Kesese!"

"Bloody Wanker! Get off her!"

"Angleterre~ are you jealous? Why, there's plenty of my l'amour to go around!"

"Wait, what? What are yo-! G-GET OFF ME, YOU FROG!"

"Eeeeeeeeeeek!"

**Thump**

"Elizaveta-san, you must get up! This is priceless yaoi material!"

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GROPING YOU TWAT!"

"Yong Soo! Let go of me, aru!"

Matthew sighed and made a note to sit away from France for the rest of the meetings, lest her sanity (along with the rest of the world's) suffer. Welcome to the craziness of the World Meetings, indeed.

* * *

After Germany personally pulled France away from England, he called a short recess of half an hour, so everyone could walk around and calm down.

It had been rather hard, he'd admit. Francis had already stripped Arthur down to his pants and was slowly making his way towards the underwear when Germany had finally stopped Lovino from throwing profanities, among other things at him. He would've gotten them apart before Francis was pulling off the Brit's Union Jack boxers if Elizaveta hadn't tried to stop him with her frying pan while telling Kiku to take pictures. Luckily, his _bruder_ made a good human shield, though he would never hear the end from it once the Prussian regained consciousness.

As soon as the break was called -Arthur muttering curses at Francis while he pulled on his clothes (whether _actual_ curses or swears, Matthew didn't know)- Matthew got up and walked hurriedly outside the room. Her face was rather red after that whole ordeal and she was sure she shouldn't stick around in case another round of chaos broke out.

Already knowing where she was headed, she climbed the stairs to the third floor. The world meetings always took places on either the first or second floors. It was a rule established after a meeting some years ago during the Cold War. Russia and America were getting on each other's faces too much and the hostility could be felt by even Italy, who was unable to read the atmosphere most of the time. After a certain incident regarding Russia almost throwing America off one of the room's windows from the twentieth floor ("We're in Russia dа, the snow will break your fall, America~"), no more meetings were allowed to take place above two stories off the ground. It'd be fun explaining the media why a person was thrown off several stories and was able to survive with nothing short of a minor bruise.

Upon reaching the third floor, the blonde girl walked down the long hall and stood in front of two, almost identical doors. Matthew was about to enter the one of them when her entire body froze. She took two steps back, and carefully examined the signs on both doors, her eyes widening. She would've cried if she hadn't thought it'd make her look like a complete lunatic. She kept walking backwards until her back touched the wall behind her.

And she just stared.

"…Fuck my life…"

* * *

Australia walked down the third floor hallway with his trusty pet koala on his back. As he conversed with his sister, Zoe, he noticed his furry friend look somewhere quite intently. When the Aussie followed his pet's line of sight, he found Madeline reclined against a wall, looking as if she was about to cry. He nudged her sister with his elbow and pointed in the Canadian's direction.

"You think something's wrong with the sheila, Z?" Zoe turned to the other girl's direction, seeing her condition. She shrugged her shoulders, equally confused.

"I don't know, Steven…Maybe she's overwhelmed?"

Steven gave Zoe a weird look, "About what?"

"Well," the kiwi crossed her arms over her barely noticeable chest, eyes closed in concentration ('_much like Arthur would do when thinking about something on the tip of his tongue,' _Steven thought with amusement), "It's her first meeting. Surely she didn't expect things to get so chaotic, right?"

"Ohh…I see your point…" Steven walked to Madeline and placed a firm hand on her shoulder, completely taking her by surprise, "No worries, mate! It happens to be best o' us. It just takes some getting used to. Everything 'll come good!"

"Uhh…" Matthew blinked, stumped about what her brother could mean.

"Don't worry, Maddie! Everyone's first day at the meeting is a bit weird. But we're rooting for you!"

So _that's_ what they meant. "Ohh…Uh, yes. Okay…Thank you for the concern."

Australia and New Zealand simply gave her a reassuring smile and walked on. Matthew was still as distressed as ever. She felt glad they had worried over her, but the meeting wasn't was she was so worried about…

Canada pushed herself off the wall, shuffling a bit forward, but stopping before the dual doors. The one on her right had a drawing of a woman in a pink dress while the left door had a drawing of a man in blue.

Matthew didn't know which bathroom she was supposed to enter…

She _could_ enter the girl's room, but she'd feel weird being in there when in all honesty, she wasn't a female, especially if there were other women in there. Of course, if she entered the boy's room and anyone were to see her…well, Canadian customs would come into question, without a doubt. The bathroom was open to every single person that passed, not only nations, so her plan of simply waiting until the meeting restarted to enter, despite being late, had the other gaping hole. She thought of waiting until she got to her hotel, but the meeting itself took hours, especially when it broke into fights every other minute. And Matthew was quite sure she would burst if she didn't decide soon…It really was bringing tears to her eyes.

While other nations passed by, they all thought the Quebecois' dilemma laid in her first meeting. They had no idea she just needed to use a bathroom immediately.

"_Crisse…_"

Suddenly, the Canadian felt a soft and gentle hand grab hers. She looked up to see Hungary smiling at her. To say Matthew was confused was an understatement. She didn't notice Hungary was pulling her forward until both girls were almost inside the girl's bathroom. Matthew let out a gasp and dug her heels into the floor, though Hungary barely seemed to notice. She only stopped pulling when Matthew opened her mouth to speak.

"Ahh! I-I-I shouldn't g-go in there, I th-think…" Upon seeing Elizaveta's eyes land on hers, Matthew blushed brightly and looked at the floor, thinking the statement made her look weird.

She hadn't even noticed her move until she could no longer see her shoes. Her sight went black as two hands covered her eyes and gently pushed her into the bathroom.

The _women's_ bathroom.

"Wait!" her cries went ignored as she was gently nudged further inside. She heard a sound of something like a stall door hitting a wall from her right and felt Hungary move her in that direction. She let go of Matthew and closed the stall door when she said she could open her eyes now.

'_Well_,' the blonde thought, deciding it was safe to open her eyes and use the facilities, _'Although that was _weird_, my problem's solved..?'_

After she was done, she shyly opened the stall door and peeked outside. Right there, sitting on top of the marble counter, was Hungary, examining her nails, apparently waiting for the other to finish. When the stall door gave a slight creaking sound from the rusty hinges, the brunette gazed up and noticed the nervous blonde giving glances around her. Hungary smiled and got of the counter, smoothing the wrinkles of her long skirt. Matthew wondered about just _where_ the Hungarian hid her giant frying pan, when there seemed to be no place _to_ hide it…was that the thing Japan called hammer space?

After her clothes' appearance seemed satisfactory, Hungary turned to the other and smiled. "It's okay, Canada. There's no one else in here."

Matthew's body suddenly felt cold. The room's temperature had stayed the same, no doubt (this _was_ Hungary, not Russia or Natalya), but a cold shiver had racked her body at Hungary's words. She gave a hopefully convincing laugh as she exited the stall.

"Yeah, a part o-of Canada…But you can call me Quebec, it feels weird otherwise…" LIES! But she couldn't exactly deny those kind of thoughts ou loud, could she?

A giggle. It sounded so light and soft…It seemed surreal that this woman standing before her was the same one that fought in countless wars and would protect Austria at the drop of a hat. Gilbert had always called her a 'demonic, pan-wielding witch from the depths of the deepest part of the Amazon', but that seemed greatly misleading. Then again, Canada herself changed personalities whenever she had to participate in a war or a hockey match…

"It's all right," she continued when Matthew showed no signs of understanding her words, "I know the truth, Canada. I know you're Matthew."

The girl's jaw slacked open almost as wide as her violet eyes. All she could think was '_How?_'

Apparently she voiced her thoughts, cause Hungary grabbed her hand once more and pulled her out of the bathroom as she spoke. "Gilbert told me. He said I should find you and talk about 'what happened'. Honestly, I didn't believe him at first, but it certainly explains your sudden arrival better." She disregarded the other's blush and continued, letting the hand free after they were quite a ways from the bathroom and away from other people. "I only believed him when he showed no signs of joking. He had a straight face through the whole thing. Though we haven't talked much, I've heard about you from Gilbert and Francis when they're around. They speak kindly about you, y' know. That's rare for them. Anywa—hey…Are you alright?"

Matthew was not alright. One more person knew about her. On her rush to find a restroom, she forgot her mental note to tell Gilbert to _not_ blab to anyone for security reasons. If he told Elizaveta (just _why_ did he tell her anyway? She had no idea), who knows who else he could've told, or could be telling? She had to find him, _now._

Turning to Hungary, she gave her a shaky smile, "I'm sorry, but right now isn't the best of times to explain the whole story, and I quickly need to find Gilbert. Thank you very much about your help earlier," she bowed similar to how Kiku would do. Canada had quite the number of Asians in it after all, "I'd like it if you would meet with me after the meeting so we could discuss this better…"

Elizaveta blinked, her eyes a bit wide ('This _is Francis' son and Gilbert's friend? He's so well mannered!'_). After a quick shake of her head to clear her thoughts, she gave the Canadian a nod. "Of course. I understand, sweetie." She smiled when she saw the blonde's cheeks gain a rosy hue._ 'The way he blushes is so adorable as well~!'_

She waved as Matthew turned to look for Gilbert. "Oh, Mattie! He's on the first floor!" Not quite sure if the other heard her words, and said other being too far away already to chase, Elizaveta turned and walked the other way. There were still some minutes left, and she wanted to talk to Kiku about those pictures he took of France's _invasion _of England.

She gave a dreamy sigh, more bounce in her step now. She really loved international affairs~.

* * *

_Gott,_ West was such a bitch sometimes! Using him as a human shield against Elizaveta's frying pan attacks…She was smiling as she hit him, too! He was sure of it! Luckily, he just suffered of a small headache. He might not be a nation anymore, but he still healed abnormally fast. Of course, that just made his 'friend' not pull any punches...or kicks...or smacks...or just about anything when she hit him.

With a small sneeze, the albino searched for something to do before the meeting began. Maybe he should find Birdie and talk about that crazy stunt she pulled with Eyebrows.

'_All right, then! I should share my awesomeness with the less fortunate, after al-'_

"Prussia!"

The next thing Gilbert saw was purple and fur. It took him half a second to process that he had been tackled to the rug-covered floor. It had taken a fraction of that for him to fall from the sudden attack, and it took him two seconds to notice that damn, those rugs needed to be cleaned more often.

Being flipped around, he was harshly pulled to his feet once more before he noticed that Matthew was grabbing onto the collar of his shirt, murder practically written all over her face.

"Hey, Birdie! I was just on my way to-"

"Don't you 'Hey, Birdie' me, you idiot! You told Hungary! You told Elizaveta!"

"Oh, is _that_ what this is about? What's the big deal?"

Canada's brow twitched in irritation as she shook the Prussia a bit harder, hoping _something _in his brain would shift at the same time so he'd gain some _sense_.

"What the dea—Prussia! This is serious business! It needs to stay a secret!" Matthew pulled herself away from the other before she did something she would regret later on. At the moment she would _love_ to strangle Gilbert. "Do you have _any idea_ how _embarrassing_ it is to be pulled into the bathroom like a toddler and be told that your secret is out after a taking a pee? It's _incredibly_ embarrassing!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Matthew blinked at Gilbert's tone. He looked really serious right now. Did she say something weird again? What was with that look in his eye? She didn't notice she blushed at all. It made her a little uncomfortable to be stared at so intently… "Did you wash your hands afterwards?"

What?

The Canadian felt a fury the size of Nunavut creep up her spine before she launched at Gilbert's collar and proceeded to shake the holy maple out of him. She didn't even notice the other nations passing by, either watching in amusement or staying while munching on a snack, enjoying the show. All she cared was letting out her frustration and embarrassment at Gilbert. It didn't help that, as she had stated once before, she possessed virtually zero upper body strength and couldn't do as much damage as she wanted. Gilbert laughing his ass off at her actions wasn't helping either.

Fuck her life.

* * *

**A/N:** Tell me the truth…is it obvious that Canada x UK is my second OTP and that I think pervy!France is love? XD

I miss my English teacher... she taught me the dazzle-brilliance, baffle-bullshit line.

_Here's the one liners again:_ Germany, Italy, Romano, America, England, South Korea, China, Russia, Lithuania and maybe Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Canada, Prussia, England, France, England, Hungary (the shriek and thump), Japan (trying to make Hungary awaken), England, and China.

**Recommendation** this time is "Among the Weeds" by _Verboten Byacolate_ and _Whitetyger123._ It's hot, especially near the end, and might offend some people with language and Gilbert's thoughts on 'certain' people, but it is a great read, nonetheless!

'_Nihao China' _by China is **quite fun to sing along** to…if you can pronounce Chinese words…Give it a whirl~.

If you could, I'd appreciate if you'd leave a review~! (hint, hint) Until next time!


	8. It's Just Like Hockey, Except It's Not

Unexpected Changes

Chapter eight: It's just like hockey, except it's not.

**A/n:** I'm back~! I posted this small thing to get my writing mojo back… honestly, I got addicted to Rpg Maker VX and haven't touched a story since my last update…OTL

I have a kinda timeline thing made for this fanfic. Too bad that timeline's outta whack and doesn't seem to be getting in order any time soon…Reminds me of how time works in HetaOni. (If you call yourself a Hetalia fan and don't know what HetaOni (or at LEAST RomaHeta) is, hit yourself with Seychelles' tuna fish. And live in _shame_. Seriously though, check them out.)

**Warnings: **no high levels of humor :(, small historical references, first time writing Hong Kong, filler!chapter and no signs of progress with the plot.

**Disclaimer:** I forgot to put one last chapter! ;A; I don't own Hetalia, nor did I own it last time either. I'm still waiting for Himaruya to make more Latin characters, as a matter of fact…

**Words: 3,500 Approx. (The site changed the word count AGAIN! :S)**

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew is able to convince everyone that she's a representation of Quebec named Madeline filling for Canada for the moment. Everything remains under control…until Matthew realizes that Gilbert told Elizaveta about her true identity. Now all Matthew wants to do is get some answers from Gilbert and choke him to death, not necessarily in that order…

* * *

After the little episode in which Matthew had tried to throttle Gilbert (and failed), all nations were called back to the conference room in order to continue the meeting. Before entering the room, Matthew made sure to get the message across to Gilbert that he was to tell _no one else_ about her curse or he would suffer the consequences. Of course, Matthew was too nice to even think of exactly what the _consequences_ could be, but she wasn't about to tell Gilbert that…never mind that the albino already knew her long enough to know she was bluffing. Badly.

True to her earlier words, Matthew sat quite far away from France's seat and opted to sit on Seychelles' left. Upon noticing the tan girl's inquisitive look, Matthew pointed towards both their father's direction. Seychelles gave her a look of pity and understanding, patting comfortably on her shoulder before turning to talk with Hong Kong.

During the minutes that passed until every single nation –or arguably not, in Sealand's case—entered the room, Matthew laid her head in between her arms, closing her eyes as she concentrated on the previous events that happened.

First, it no longer seemed that she was invisible. For some unbeknownst reason, she was actually quite noticeable now. Was it some sort of side effect of Arthur's mishap? Sure it was refreshing that she hadn't been confused for America, and it would hopefully stay that way, but all the sudden attention was a little unnerving and she wasn't quite used to it. Also, she noticed, Arthur hadn't mistaken her since that night on the 3rd of the month. At all. This was a feat in and of itself. Although they shared an amiable bond—living together and being the only 'sane' members in a family that also consisted of Francis and Alfred would do that to people—her father figure was probably _the_ one that confused her with Alfred the most, though Cuba came in a close second. And although it _might_ have to do with the guilt he no doubt felt from being the cause of this whole situation, it still added to the whole 'this is really weird' factor. Maybe she could ask him later what brought on this sudden change. It might be nice to know, and it might help her whole 'oh-sorry-I-didn't-see-you-there-whoever-you-are' dilemma when she turned back into a boy.

Another thought to munch on; as soon as the meetings were over the 7th, they'd have to fly over to England (the place) to see what the antidote was. The sooner this whole thing was over with, the better. Also, the less people found out, the easier this would be.

…And this brought up the topic she least wanted to think about. She had unconsciously tried to forget about the whole Elizaveta knowing thing until later, when she'd have brave the waters and tell the Hungarian everything that happened. She still couldn't fathom as to _why_ Gilbert told her…Granted, she _was_ attempting to choke the man when she asked him, but nonetheless!

Her thoughts stopped when she felt something poking her head, quite harshly, too. When she raised her head and saw nothing, so chanced a look around. The seat to her left was still empty, and there was no one behind her (or on her. Nobody had accidentally sat on her yet! Score!). Only when she gave a look to her right did she see Seychelles looking at her direction and stifling some giggles behind her hand. Hong Kong was also looking at her. He didn't look as amused as Seychelles, but Matthew thought she saw the corner of his mouth slightly twitch upwards.

"It's not _that_ funny, Michelle." Hong Kong turned forward, twirling around some firecrackers he had pulled out before.

"Still," said the island nation, "It's cute~!"

"Huh?" was all the blonde gave as a reply.

"Over your head," offered Michelle before turning back to speak with the Asian again.

The Canadian chanced a look upwards just as something puffy fell off her head forward. She suddenly brought her hands up to catch it on pure reflex. Right there nestling between her fingers, looking as adorable and fluffy as the first time she laid eyes on it around a year ago, laid a yellow chick.

Gilbird, to be precise.

As it peeped at her, Matthew looked to the other chairs in the room, barely registering that the room was almost full. Diagonally right from her seat was Prussia chatting away with his younger brother, who looked more annoyed by the minute (The German had the patience of a saint, really…).

Wondering if Gilbird had decided to just up and fly around the room (he tended to do that from time to time, especially if around Greece's cats for too long), Matthew failed to see the note neatly attached to his leg until he pecked at her again. She removed the piece of paper carefully and read it in one hand as she gently petted the bird with the other.

_Heeeey, Birdie! You're not still mad, are you? :D_

Resisting the incredibly strong urge to crumple and tear the note into tiny bits, she simply shoved it down on the table with a slight slam. Aside from the shock making Gilbird jump a bit, it seemed the noise in the room stopped any attention from being drawn to her. Matthew rubbed her hand over her face and tapped her sister on her shoulder to politely gain her attention.

"Excuse me, Michelle. Could you please let me borrow a pencil?"

"Of course! No problem," she gave her a light blue mechanical pencil that greatly matched the hue of the owner's long dress. Thinking a little, she asked the blonde, "Wait, how'd you know my name, Madeline?"

It took Matthew a moment to recall that _she_ was 'Madeline', and thus had to answer Michelle's question. Lucky for her, before she had the chance to rack her brain for a convincing lie, Hong Kong unknowingly came to her rescue.

"I just called you Michelle less than a minute ago. Like, did you forget already?"

"Oh right…and I only forgot, Lee! Honest mistake."

Giving a small sigh of relief, Matthew wrote a simple line of reply in the paper before trying it back on Gilbird's leg and motioning him towards his owner.

* * *

Entering the room after half-ignoring Matthew's 'threat', Gilbert wandered over to his seat between Ludwig's and Roderich's. Satisfied by the disgusted looks both nations gave him as he propped both feet up on the conference table, he wondered how else he'd pass the time. Obviously, he could always bother or annoy his neighbors, but it was always more fun whenever Feliciano or Elizaveta were around as well.

Y' know, since Italy would always question Germany's use of German swears he threw at Prussia and Hungary would always fight over either shutting Prussia up or hearing more 'compromising' situations involving Austria. Good times, good times.

Feeling his nose getting slightly tingly but not enough to sneeze, he looked around the room to see what he could occupy himself with before the meeting started. Just then, he felt a familiar weight upon his head.

"Hey, Gilbird!" he grinned when the bird tweeted happily in return. It made itself comfortable on the mop of messy silver hair. The Prussian grinned and continued scanning the room.

Okay, at least Heracles and his cats were on the other side of the room. The Greek man seemed to be trying to ask Kiku something, who was unusually red and shifting awkwardly in his seat. Regardless of being friends, Gilbert couldn't deny that the other's embarrassment was extremely amusing. He only found it funnier when Japan, upon meeting Prussia's eyes while he gave him a peace sign, slammed his hand over his forehead in a way similar to how Germany would do as well.

Laughing, he continued with his scan of the room. Antonio was chatting with Italy and Romano, the latter yelling his usual swears while blushing while the other two were not bothered in the least. Francis was sporting a rather bright handprint on his face while Arthur sat nearby, sipping tea with a large grin. Alfred was wolfing down a burger and (somehow) holding a conversation with Ivan. Since the Russian still pissed the hell off of Gilbert, he turned away in another direction. It was then he noticed Matthew laying her head on top of her arms. Her eyes were closed, but he knew better than to think she would sleep through a meeting. Remembering how angry she had been a few minutes prior because of the whole 'blabbing to Eliza' thing, he wondered if the girl was still angry with him. That, in his mind, was not awesome; not only would that mean she wouldn't make him pancakes later, but that she was judging him before he explained his actions. Many seemed to forget, but he _was_ once a nation. He knew the consequences of actions he would take. He just often _chooses_ not to pay them heed just to get a rise out of others. He had to find _some_ kind of hobby to keep him occupied throughout the years, after all.

So his mind came up with an awesome plan. He'd do just like during the war with Austria: he'd use Gilbird to act as mediator between Matthew and him. He knew his brudder would flip shit if he casually got up and talked to the 'newcomer', and this would save him from explanations. He also knew the blonde had a soft spot for cute stuff (_not_ like he did, dammit! He just accepted that some cute things deserved more of his worthy presence, _that's all_, _no matter what_ Ludwig says otherwise).

Tearing off a piece of Ludwig's notepad when he wasn't looking, he quickly scribbled down a message and lowered Gilbird from his head, tying the message on its leg. The bird gave no objections, just staring curiously at his owner's actions. Once he was done, he pointed in Canada's direction and watched as Gilbird flew off. He would've waited to look at the girl's reaction if his _brudder_ hadn't asked why a piece of his notepad was missing.

"I dunno West," deadpanned Gilbert, "maybe it got bored and left?"

He just laughed when Ludwig's brows knitted together as he face-palmed.

* * *

Alfred felt there was something wrong with this situation.

Sure, his bro was easy to miss, and he may have a tendency to fade out of sight in mid-conversation, and is extremely soft spoken, and he was often ignored whenever he spoke, and he may be against some things that Alfred said, and can try to deny some of his heroic plans, and may be completely against his fast-food chains…

What was his point, again?

Oh, right. Even if Canada often failed to leave an impression, he had _never_ missed a meeting before on his life! Not after he got his leg broken in the battle of Vimy Ridge, and not when he got that massive cold around five years ago. Actually, he left quickly after when he almost coughed his lungs out, but he still tried to attend! So Alfred found it _highly_ unlikely that his northern twin would miss out a meeting…Unless he didn't have a 'substitute' before Quebec came along… But the girl looked almost as old as Matthew, give or take a year, so she could've attended for him five years ago, right? Then again, maybe he had been over thinking things. Canada _did_ send him a text explaining his situation, and Iggy had agreed…

"Comrade Alfred, you seem troubled, да?" Ivan inquired. He still kept the seat next to Alfred's. As long as Belarus didn't follow him again, he would stay, and both his sisters were distracted with each other. He was more than sure whoever had the seat before wouldn't mind, right? Right!

"Hm? Oh cohrshe aim not trhoubleld, duhde! (Of course I'm not troubled, dude!)" he finally gulped the bite of his burger, "This thing can't run without me, or it would fall apart! After all, I _am_ the most important nation here. The life of a hero is a tough one…" he wiped a fake tear from his eye.

It was a shame America couldn't read the atmosphere, or he'd be amazed how quickly the temperature dropped around Ivan (or at least he would've noticed Yao discreetly move his chair in the opposite direction of the duo).

Russia never did like being belittled.

* * *

"Piyo~"

Gilbird diligently delivered Matthew's message to Gilbert. The albino eagerly unwrapped the message, only to be slightly disappointed it had not been a simple 'yes' or a 'you're too awesome to stay mad at. I'll even make you a free meal later~'. Instead, there were four small words sprayed out in big and angry strokes.

_What do you THINK?_

Prussia looked up at Canada's direction, a confused frown on his face. He caught when she, not so secretly, pushed her glasses farther up her nose. With her middle finger.

Ok. Guess she was madder than he thought.

'But Mattie didn't think about one thing,' thought Gilbert smugly as he wrote back and resent Gilbird with a new message.

'What the awesome me wants, the awesome me gets. Kesese~'

* * *

Matthew patted Gilbird on the head again as she read the albino's new message. She literally did a double take and her eyes went wide. She shot her head up and stared at Gilbert straight in the eyes.

'You wouldn't.' she mouthed.

Prussia just gave her a wide grin and mouthed back, 'Try me.'

_Wrong answer~! You should know I'd have no problem loudly calling you out from my seat waaaay over here…_

_Y'know, and having everyone heard me at the same time ;)_

This time she did crumple the paper in her hand, and if looks would kill, Gilbert would have been six-feet under right then.

She _knew_ Gilbert wouldn't really do it, and that he was just bluffing. He may loudly shout out her false name or say something greatly embarrassing regarding her, but he wouldn't put her national safety on the line. He might be crude, and obnoxious and annoying and rude, but he wasn't heartless. Still, the fact that _he_ thought _she_ didn't know him so well…it sort of hurt. She didn't know why, but it just made her get even angrier at him.

Then, an idea slowly crept inside her mind. It might not be revenge material, but in the least, the idea that Gilbert didn't intimidate her would get across.

She turned to Seychelles and Hong Kong once more, putting on a small yet shy smile (the same that helped her get her independence without a fight from Arthur). "Um…Lee, would you mind giving me one of those firecrackers? S'il vous plaît?"

Both nations gave the blonde a confused look. "I wouldn't mind, but like, what would you use it for?"

"Oh, you'll see~!" she smiled again, a little deviously this time.

Lee shrugged and gave her a small one decorated in red and purple. "Do you…" he hesitated for a bit, but continued, "plan to light it?"

Michelle turned to the Asian. "Lee, I'm sure Madeline has no intention of-"

"Yes, I do. Do you have a lighter I may borrow?" seeing her sister do a double take was kind of cute, Matthew admitted. Her ponytails moved perfectly with the head motion and her face was priceless. Hong Kong reached deep inside one of his sleeves and pulled out a coal black lighter with a silver symbol in the form of the flower in his flag. He passed it over to Matthew, who took Michelle's pencil and quickly wrote something on the previously crumpled piece of paper. She gave the note to Gilbird and sent him back to Prussia. Then, as soon as she saw that Gilbert was occupied with reading her reply, she flipped open the lighter and lit the firecracker. Both Michelle's and Lee's eyes widened at the action.

"W-wait, Madeline! Those make quite a lot of noise! Shouldn't you wait until later?"

"They also make quite the little bang," Lee supplied. Madeline's smile only grew.

"Don't worry; I know what I'm doing." The Canadian gripped her sister's pen tightly in her hand and seemed to be about to flick it in some direction they couldn't see. When Michelle asked just _what_ she was going to do, Matthew only said it would be like hockey, but with a pencil and firecracker instead of a hockey stick and puck.

If she noticed both nations inch slightly away from her, she didn't show it.

* * *

The ex-nation read the paper over again. He knew he was reading it right, but the words didn't really make sense to him. It said _'Hope you have fast reflexes'_, but he didn't quite get it. Was she planning on chasing him or something after the meeting? He expected something saying that she was sorry for not forgiving him, or that she'd hear him out and not to say anything stupid. Not that he would, he wasn't _that_ cruel.

He looked in the blonde's direction to see if she as willing to explain her letter, only to widen his eyes. She had thrown _something_ at him, and out of sharpened reflexes from various wars, he shot both hands in front of him to stop whatever the thing was. It wasn't heavy, and his hands barely felt the object. When he saw the red and purple explosive, _lit on_, and about to explode in his (awesome) face. He did the first thing he could think of.

He slapped it away. _Hard._

Matthew, Gilbert, Michelle and Lee could only stare in amazement and anxiousness as it flew through the air, only to land with a 'plop' near the head of the table. Inside England's tea cup.

Matthew grumbled, quite sad that her trick didn't work. "Great. It failed…"

"Well, at least the fuse was diffused by the tea." Michelle let out a sigh she didn't realize she had been holding as she said the words. She watched as Arthur looked at the object inside his cup with an utterly dumbstruck expression.

"Actually…" Lee mumbled out loud enough for only the girls to hear, as he raised a hand to point straight in the Englishman's direction.

Arthur still kept looking inside his cup. What _was_ that? Something came flying out of nowhere and landed straight inside his perfectly fine Earl Grey Te—

**BANG!**

The whole room was covered in silence as they could only stare with gaped mouths at the scene before them. Out of nowhere, England's tea cup had _exploded,_ letting all the liquid it had inside splash violently into the air. Arthur laid completely still, soaked from his cup's drink, his face not showing any sign that it fully registered exactly _what_ just happened.

"…that firecracker was waterproof." Hong Kong needlessly explained to the girls. Both laid stupefied, mouths and eyes wide opened.

The silence remained for a few seconds, until Alfred couldn't help but double over laughing, tears freely streaming down his face as he tried to speak.

"HAHAHAHAHA! OH MY-HAHA- GOD! Hahaha, it's just like the, haha, Boston Tea Party all over, hahahahaha, again! Hahahaha!"

Matthew could only stay still. She was too mortified by what she accidentally caused. Arthur would _kill_ her!

Soon after, other nations joined in the laughter as well. Some were still in shock, and others had stopped on their tracks on their way inside the room, but most every nation found the event simply hilarious. Matthew basically shrunk into herself and she slid down her chair slightly, grimacing at the reprimand she was sure to get soon.

She completely ignored Gilbert's especially loud, boisterous laugh.

Arthur slammed both hands on top of the desk, shaking some tea off him by shaking his head vigorously. "Now, I _know_ that was either Lee, or Peter. And I demand to know which one did it!"

Sliding even further down her chair, the Canadian grimaced. Arthur was not amused. Not-at-all…

"I did it. It was me."

All eyes shot towards the speaker. Some people's faces contorted into shock, mostly from the quick uncovering of the culprit. Admittedly, some of those most shocked were Gilbert, Michelle and Matthew.

Hong Kong had stood, hand raised high, and claimed responsibility for the action.

"Lee! Why would you do that, aru!"

"Simple," he replied, face stoic with only the barest of smiles showing, "I wanted to like, see what would happen."

"_What would happ_—Ack! You are _incredibly_ lucky you are no longer my colony, Lee! Else I'd soon place you atop Bugsby's chair myself!" Arthur went on a long tirade about how he no longer got the respect he deserved, all the while telling Alfred and Francis to 'Belt the hell up' and to 'Jump off a cliff and rot'.

Hong Kong sat once more when Michelle harshly yanked his sleeve towards Matthew and herself. "Why did you cover for me, Lee? It wasn't fair…"

Lee just gave another small smile, "Don't worry. I'd call it even. After all, that was certainly entertaining."

Soon enough, all three nations were laughing. All the while, Matthew couldn't help but think he had some of the weirdest, yet best siblings in the world.

* * *

**A/n:** Hong Kong's speech is very different from Poland's. I hope I captured it well. I've only seen the speech in the 2011 Bloodbath and on one single story.

No recommendations this time. Come on! I said _crackberies_! That should satisfy anyone for like, a year! But if you really want another story, _orangepencils_ has a ton of awesome PruCan stories. Check them out!

Oh! And the song this time is…**Hamburger Street**! By Alfred-kun~! Definitively a must-listen! I always end up wanting to hug the heck outta America when I hear it~! :3

Review please!


	9. The Other Side to Things

Unexpected Changes

Chapter nine: The other side to things

**Matthew:** Hello everyone. Yukai_ really_ wanted to do the usual author's note, but she had something short of a stroke when the reviews broke the 50 milestone, so…

**Gilbert: **So Birdie, Kuma and I are 'releasing' her of her duties! Kesese~.

**Matthew:** You didn't have to lock her up in the broom closet -.-'

**Gilbert:** Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with! Last chapter was filler anyway! We need to move the plot!

**Matthew:** Well, Yukai _did_ put two foreshadowing hints in the last one, but I doubt anyone saw them…

**Gilbert:** Wait, she did_ what_?

**Matthew:** At least she was in a good mood. She even went to her third convention last Saturday. She bought many Hetalia merchandise and even got onstage when they started putting Caramelldansen and YMCA.

**Kumajirou: **She was happy until you locked her in the broom closet.

**Matthew: **And she was also working proudly on her Rpg maker project about her fanmade Hetalia game.

**Kumajirou:** She was fine until you locked her in the broom closet.

**Gilbert:** Yeesh! What is this, hate Prussia's idea day? _Not_ awesome…

**Matthew:** We should finish this and start the story, already. Umm, some warnings are OOC-ness, language, fail humor, and suggestive themes...

**Gilbert:** And Yukai doesn't own this thing or us, obviously. Hetalia would be doomed in her hands!

**Kumajirou:** Read. Now.

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew remembered, Alfred suspected, Gilbert teased and tea exploded. The meeting restarts with a bang, but Matthew still doesn't have any new answers to most of her questions.

* * *

After Arthur dried himself off, cursing violently the whole time, the meeting soon went underway. So far it was progressing without a hitch, though every now and then, Arthur would shoot Lee the evil eye. Even so, every time Matthew felt bad, the Asian would tell her again to not worry. Michelle backed up his words, saying he wouldn't have taken the blame for her had it been a bother for him. It wasn't like Arthur could _do_ anything to Hong Kong, after all, since they were no longer colonies under somebody else's rule.

Which made Matthew wonder: exactly _how_ had Seychelles and Hong Kong become friends? This, to her, was a rather recent development, since France and England would've made more than sure to keep their colonies apart had they first met all those years ago.

Well, she guessed it really wasn't any of her business to pry, though she had to admit… she liked that siblings from both sides of her family got along so well. Now, if only her parents could be as mature and follow their example…

As Switzerland began his report on the financial status of the International Monetary Fund, someone tapped the girl's shoulder. Only now did she register that someone decided to occupy the seat to her left. She had forgotten that after the 'recreation of the Boston Tea Party' the other nations had rushed to any available seats after both Germany and England threatened to do harm if the meeting wasn't started immediately. Nobody wanted both those nations on their bad side. Even America and Prussia had complied and stayed silent.

It took her only a split second to realize her seat-neighbor was Hungary. A curious smile adorned her already beautiful face, and Canada wasn't sure if she was ready to explain everything yet, especially in the middle of a world conference.

Everyone knew the only things able to spread rumors and breaking news faster than Facebook and Twitter were Poland and other gossiping nations. That's how everyone found out Lilly had once accidentally mixed her brother's whites and reds, making all of Vash's clothes pink. Nothing happened to Lilly, of course, but certain pictures got out and a very angry Swiss extracted revenge on a very unfortunate Poland and Prussia.

Japan's fantasies of a dress-and-ribbon-wearing Switzerland had to come from somewhere, after all…

Elizaveta tugged Matthew's sleeve and pointed to a note she was holding with a small nod of her head. Matthew got the idea and grabbed hold of the paper from the brunette's hand. She had to wonder, was passing notes between each other a European thing? Nevertheless, she opened it and read the neat, cursive letters. Huh… Hungary hearted her I's.

_Sorry to ask right now, but I'm simply dying with curiosity~! Besides, the only thing Gil told me was that Arthur was somehow involved and that you could use my help in some way. You should know by now that he really doesn't know how to elaborate often._

With a perfectly arched eyebrow, Matthew turned to the other woman. Help her? How? If anything, the more people knew the more trouble it would cause. Wasn't that obvious?

Hungary wasn't looking back at her, however. She was kindly waving to Feliciano (who waved back with more vigor) instead. Call her crazy, but the blonde could almost swear she was being avoided…

Realization dawned quickly on her. Canada, much less Quebec, hasn't really interacted much with Hungary. If 'Quebec' and Hungary suddenly started chatting amiably, and more importantly, _secretly during a meeting_, it could raise some questions. The questions themselves might be innocent in nature, but they'd require more lies and tall-tales to avoid any suspicion about Canada. If someone asked how the girls came to know each other, they couldn't say they met because Quebec needed convincing to enter the girls' bathroom. That'd just be careless and stupid. It was different from Seychelles and Hong Kong…at least Canada had some sort of relations with them, not to mention that everyone was too distracted to pay them any large amounts of attention. If 'Madeline' had made her world debut some earlier day, they could've just said that they'd met outside the meetings and had gotten to know each other or some other convincing story. Canada turned her gaze away from the Hungarian girl and wrote back with Seychelles' pencil (she'd have to remember to return it later).

_I don't mind, really. Though Prussia never told me he planned on telling you. Do you know what he meant by 'helping me'? We aren't on speaking terms at the moment and I don't feel like wasting a text on him, either._

A bit of her earlier foul mood returned, but she did well to hide it. She folded the note several times before poking Elizaveta's arm with it under table. Both looked at Switzerland, half listening to his comments on the World Bank Group status, half paying attention to the secret messages between them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Matthew saw Elizaveta do a double take at the message and slap her hand over her mouth, though she quickly acted normal once more. She _did_ look a little red on the face, however. This bewildered Matthew to no end, but she couldn't exactly ask her what was wrong right now… she had to wait for a reply.

Around half a minute later, a new piece of paper landed on her lap. With stealth rivaling James Bond, she quickly scanned the contents.

_As, I see~. Your use of his nation name and the way the bottom of your reply was almost ripped with your pencil strokes are clue enough to see you're not happy with him at the moment. I even had to use new paper :P I hope I'm not prying, but… is this a lover's spat?_

Matthew violently choked on air after reading the last part. _Lovers_? Was she joking? Surely she was joking. She had to be joking. With _him_?.!

"Is there a problem, Quebec?" Vash's clear and monotonous voice reached her perfectly, and Matthew couldn't fight the way her face flushed from all the attention she accidentally attracted to herself from all around the table.

"N-no, everything's…fine. Please continue…" she hung her head a bit. Was this whole day filled with bad luck for her? She couldn't help but wring the note between her fingers in embarrassment. She missed squeezing Kumayuka…

* * *

Back in an apartment inside Manitoba, Kumajirou laid peacefully on top of the sofa in his owner's living room, currently covered with junk foods of all kinds and flavors. This was _definitively _much better than attending those stuffy nation meetings. He was fairly sure he'd be able to clean up the place before what's-his-now-it's-a-her-name got home. It might be a bit hard to scrape the gummy bears off the ceiling fan, though…

Meh, the moose partying in the kitchen could help him with that later.

* * *

Gilbert watched in amusement from his seat. He was definitively curious about Matthew's sudden reaction. If he had to bet, he'd say the grinning Hungarian next to her was the answer. Elizaveta was blushing furiously as Matthew shrunk in her chair from all the sudden attention. A few minutes later, when the interruption was all but forgotten, the girls exchanged secret notes back and forth. As they did so, Gilbert slightly wondered if they were discussing his conversation with Elizaveta earlier that day. He hoped so; then maybe Matthew wouldn't be all pissy about it when they talked later on.

His head shot up as a realization hit him. He turned his gaze to the head of the table, particularly to the moping figure with the harsh glare and the crossed arms.

_Verdammt_… Arthur didn't know yet.

Hopefully, strangling didn't run in the family.

* * *

Oblivious to the rest of the world, a young Canadian wanted to bash her head against the hard wood table in front of her repeatedly. She had no idea Hungary was _that_ kind of person…someone who had a scary mix between France's passion and Japan's love for certain things. Hungary thought, for some reason she could not and _did not_ want to comprehend, that Gilbert and her were in a relationship. Not _any_ kind of relationship either, but one that involved the most unique and wrong uses of maple syrup…ever. Not only was the blonde mortified, she was mentally scarred. She uses that thing on _everything_! How was she to get her mapleginity back?

After her 'little show', the notes went sort of like this:

_I knew it! You guys are an item, right? You were totally dating before this change happened to you! No wonder the two of you are so close~! It's the magic of Yaoi love!_

_No! You're completely wrong! Gilbert and I aren't like that—at all!_

_Aww~, you're saying Gilbert instead of Prussia~! You're not mad anymore! Tell me the truth: did you guys use to have make up sex and do have pictures?_

_WHAT?.! Hungary you are terribly WRONG! We do NOT fornicate in any way, shape or form! We're just friends who bonded over a mutual love for maple syrup and pancakes! Neither of us is interested in each other!_

_A mutual love? So… basically you've already –beep- and –moan- and –meow- while cooking and such? Have you –honk- or –gun shot- while using maple syrup? Or have you just used it as some sort of lubricant? You can trust in me! I won't tell!_

It was at that point that Matthew's face burned brighter than any shade that had previously been on the girl's face, including during her life as a man. Not even _the talk_ had been as mortifying as this—and Arthur was the one that told it to her! The fact that he used magical references, such as 'unicorn-worthy' or 'favorable by Titania' only made the whole situation worse than it should've been (She honestly believed that France's version might've been better…and that was saying something).

When she was sure her face wouldn't be mistaken for her flag, Canada grabbed a new piece of paper and calmly wrote out a reply.

_Trust me, Elizaveta. We aren't dating. We haven't dated. We aren't interested in dating. And we have not had sexual relations. We are just friends. I can assure you, because I've only dated once in my life, and it wasn't with a boy, much less Gilbert of all people. Sorry to crush your 'yaoi love' magic dreams, but it's the truth. And if you don't mind, I'd like to get back on our earlier topic._

Ignoring the pout that instantly attached itself to the brunette's face, lest she feel bad for ruining one of her papa's sacred rules ("Never make a girl unhappy if you can help it, Mathieu. It is simply unforgivable."), she watched as Vash finished talking to give the floor to China. Soon after, a new and bigger paper slip was given to her.

_All right, I might've overreacted. I usually can't control myself sometimes… I believe that you are just friends and nothing more, hun :) Now, about Gilbert asking for my help. What he told me is that Arthur made an accident or something along the lines of, making you now a girl. He said that you're all winging it until you are able to make something to turn you back, but until then, you have no idea how to take care of yourself as a girl. That's what he wants me to help you with. You can't exactly pretend you are a man with your change and you need to at least know the basic necessities of being a girl ;)_

Oh…When Hungary explained it like that, it made some sense. Did Gilbert really think all that through? He _was_ right that until the conferences were over, Matthew would be stuck as a girl and would need to know how to deal with it, and having an actual girl to help would be the best option…

If she remembered correctly, Gilbert had once mentioned how Hungary used to think she was a boy before having to accept her true gender. If anyone could remotely understand what Matthew was going through, it was the brunette. Just that single thought made her feel infinitely better. To know that just _maybe_ someone understood her inner turmoil made her spirits rise a little. This might work, after all. As soon as Matthew was back to being a male, there would be no more threats to Canada and everything would be back to normal anyway. It all made perfect sense. Guess Gilbert had a plausible and logical reason to tell Elizaveta after all. That made the Canadian feel a little guilty… She had basically tackled Gilbert to the ground and (almost) choked the life out of him, not to mention the whole firecracker incident… Well, she could make it up to him with a roomful of pancakes later. He wasn't one to hold a grudge against anybody (Ivan and Austria were exceptions).

Oh, there was more still written on the paper. She might as well read the rest.

_Also, don't worry about this getting out. I'm sure you and Arthur can keep secrets quite fine on your own; Gilbert can be responsible when the situation needs it; I wouldn't dream of telling a soul, not even Roderich; and Kiku is as honorable as they come, so he won't tell anyone~!_

Well, it was certainly nice to be reassured. It didn't seem as if word would get out and everyone no doubt agreed that…

…

Wait…

…

What?

She clearly heard her neck give a sharp crack when she whipped her head at Elizaveta. The girl seemed surprised at Matthew's reaction, but otherwise, there were no signs of her lying. Giving a big gulp, Matthew slowly looked over to the end of the table, all the while praying that this was some sort of joke or prank or…_something_.

Sitting besides the sleeping Greek, Kiku Honda, representative of Japan, was staring blankly at China, writing notes every now and then about the speech. Whether the Japanese man chanced a look or simply felt her glare, he turned to Matthew while she stared, mouth slightly open while her brain still tried to process the information.

The meek man gave a slight bow of his head in her direction, eyes showing… recognition?

'Oh shit he knows…'

That train of thought kept repeating itself in her mind endlessly. Not even Hungary shaking her shoulder broke her train of thought.

* * *

"…the property value would decrease to a fifteen percent, aru. No doubt this would cause a massive-"

"Hey, does anyone else feel that?"

"Aiyaa! I was talking, America!" Yao slammed his papers on the table, quite bothered by the interruption.

Alfred looked apologetic, put continued on, "I'm serious, though! Doesn't anyone feel like the temperature got colder by a few degrees? Dudes, I think it might be global warming! We're gonna sink like in _The Day After Tomorrow_!"

All eyes turned to Ivan's smiling face on the seat next to America's. While his face looked as creepily happy as usual, no malicious aura or intent to harm was rolling off him. "It isn't me, да~?" He confirmed.

"That's weird… Where is that evil feeling coming from, then?"

Alfred turned to Francis, his jacket clasped tight from his waist to his neck, fur hem covering up to his chin, "What're you talking about, Frenchie? What evil? The Hero will save everyone!"

Arthur's body shivered, his still soaked shirt becoming incredibly cold with the shift in temperature. "It's hopeless Alfred. You're utterly clueless to the atmosphere and would do more harm than good in any situation."

"Hey! It's not my fault I can't find that book! Ask Italy, dude! It's not even on E-bay!"

As the whole room broke into chaos once more regarding bookstores, broken thermostats and everyone becoming one with Russia, Hungary was the only one that noticed the way Matthew looked as if she was about to jump over the table and attack, if not kill, someone. When she trailed the direction the violet eyes were looking at, she quickly added two and two in her mind. Apparently Matthew didn't know that Gilbert told Kiku as well…

By the slightly uncomfortable way Gilbert eased the collar of his shirt, looking nervously back at Matthew, it seemed he didn't think she would react that way…

And the rest of the room was oblivious that the 'evil aura' was coming from the newcomer sitting to her right… This was sure to be an interesting time. It wasn't every day a nation had its gender swapped and thrown through such an emotional rollercoaster.

But regardless of the world of pain Matthew's eyes seemed to promise Gilbert or the way the room was freaking out, Elizaveta couldn't help but jump in excitement on the inside. Letting a small smile slip out from her lips, Hungary pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick text to Kiku. She was quite glad the albino had told the other, and she knew Kiku could keep quiet. And not only that, but that meant she had someone to who she could fangirl an talk to about this situation!

_Kiku, I was right! The unresolved sexual tension rolling off these two is enormous~! Get your camera ready!_

Smiling even wider upon the sight of Kiku's new digital camera and slight blush, Elizaveta felt glad she came to a world meeting for the first time in months. Sure, she would help Matthew with any 'lady problems' that might arise and the whole change might be over by the end of the month, but it was the most exiting thing that had happened since…well, since a long time ago.

And if she got the two nations to admit any sort of feelings between each other by the time Matthew turned back into a boy…We'll, that'd just be a lovely bonus~!

Almost nosebleeding at the thought of the two nations being in a relationship once everything was over, Elizaveta took out her own camera and swore she would enjoy the show.

* * *

**Gilbert:** Hey Mattie! Look at this I found on Facebook! "How cool would it be if every country had Facebook? Japan wrote on China's wall… America poked Afghanistan… England has 0 friends…"

**Matthew:** As…strangely accurate… as that would be, Gil…I'm still mad you told Japan.

**Gilbert:** But he's my pal! He would've found out eventually! Either because I would slip or have one too many drinks around him would obviously be irrelevant.

**Matthew:** Wow…

**Gilbert:** What? You're amazed by my logic and sincerity?

**Matthew:** No. I'm surprised you know how what a word like irrelevant means.

**Gilbert:** … Just for that, I'm not giving you the broom closet key.

**Kumajirou:** Reference note says 'Conference Complications' by Preussen.

**Matthew:** D-darn it! That story is way too hardcore! What was Yukai_ thinking_ of recommending it?... Gilbert, come back here and give me that key!

…

**Yukai:** …Hello?... Those idiots! How dare they…they forgot to ask for reviews! Not to mention they have to know that I have a new story out that might take some of my time! Let me out!

**Kumajirou:** Review. Now.


	10. Someone who understands

Unexpected Changes

Chapter ten: Someone who understands

**A/n:** EEEKKK! I made a story that reached double digits! I'm so prooouuudd!

And hey, guys! It's been so long~ but you're all still smiling and everything!...Why are you slowly approaching me with pitchforks and torches..?

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Hetalia. I wouldn't have to worry about buying extra merchandise if I did! I'd already have everything!

**Warnings:** OOCness, implied violence, HEAVY language, some comfort, and a table-spoon of awkwardness.

**Words: 4,900 Approx.**

* * *

-Recap for the story thus far-

After a night with too many drinks, Arthur accidentally curses Matthew with a potion meant for Alfred. Instead of becoming an animal as planned, Matthew turns into a girl and can't change back unless she takes an antidote of sorts. Matthew, Gilbert, Arthur were the only ones that knew what happened, and for the safety of the nation of Canada, the transformation must remain a secret lest Matthew find herself being threatened or invaded by others. Naming herself Madeline, representative of Quebec, she just might be able to lay low until Arthur and her get a chance to change her back. Unfortunately, she didn't count with Gilbert telling two extra nations her secret…

* * *

Frankly, there were certain memories that the former nation of Prussia could do without, and certain situations which, if he never experienced them again, it'd still be too soon. Among these laid his time under Russia's control and the moment he had unknowingly groped Hungary when they were kids. Aside from those events, though he'd never admit it for fear that his reputation as a battle lover be tarnished, certain battles also gave him nightmares years after their conclusion.

The moment he was experiencing right now reminded him of one of those said nightmares, specifically the ones he had after certain battles he had fought against the Canadian troops in the wars. When he was told his experienced fighters would be up against France's former kid of a colony, he had done the error of underestimating the nation. He still sometimes got chills whenever Matthew would invite him to hockey matches. The feral grin that would take over the blonde's face reminded him of those battle-filled years. It still remained a mystery to him how such a docile and soft spoken nation could've caused the German troops so much damage. Now however, although Matthew was _not_ in a hockey match or in a war of any sort –even if she looked as though she wanted to start one soon—the look she was sending Gilbert was enough to make him break in a nervous sweat and back away from her and deeper against the wall behind him. The fact that they were currently alone with no one around to watch meant nobody would be able to intervene (read: rescue him).

Though, he admitted somewhere deep, deep, _deep_ in the back of his mind, that the way the Canadian looked, face flushed in anger with a determined look on her face and eyes almost burning holes through him, was pretty hot. Not that he'd say so. He wanted to live, after all.

He guessed it _was_ his fault for telling both Hungary and Japan about the whole situation before telling either Matthew or Arthur, but he had plausible reasons! He knew Matthew would object no matter what if he told her. Don't even get him _started _on how Arthur would react. Hungary would no doubt help the Canadian out; whether out of the goodness of her heart, because she could relate to how Matthew felt on some level, or because she loved the idea of meeting Francis' famed son and Gilbert's friend; the albino didn't know. And he also had good reasons to tell Kiku! Not only was the Japanese man one of Gilbert's closest friends, but he knew how to keep a secret as well. Elizaveta would probably burst out and blab if she didn't have a close friend to who she could talk about the whole situation, and Kiku would be the perfect option. Besides, he had a tendency to visit Canada often and would've found out sooner or later if he decided to stop by in place of Yao or Yong Soo (which was quite often). He really didn't see _why_ Matthew was so against it. In two more days, she'd be off with her father to guzzle down a cure and the whole incident would become something they would laugh about in two hundred years. She was clearly overreacting.

Nearly half an hour ago, they were still inside the conference room and she was glaring daggers across the table at him. Hungary was no help, seeing as she was smiling in a creepy manner and taking pictures, Gott knows why, while the other nations were freaking out about how global warming was happening (Alfred), how General Winter was having a surprise visit (Ivan), or how everyone should embrace and rub their bodies together to conserve adequate body heat (Francis). He would've found it hilarious that 'Madeline' was being overlooked again if his well being wasn't in danger.

As soon as the meeting was over he had every intention of running away and waiting for the girl to cool down before approaching her, but a single glare from Matthew told him 'sit, or things will get _worse_'. So he plopped back down on his chair like a good nation and waited until every single nation had exited. Japan and Hungary (the traitors) simply said they would wait to meet up with them at Canada's hotel room later that night and left as soon as they could.

Fast forward about a minute, and Gilbert finds himself in the present, where Matthew was basically pinning him against the conference room wall, promising a world of pain. He tried to keep her hands in sight at all times. He didn't want her to attempt to choke him again, just like before the conference finished its recess.

As he gulped, he deeply hoped that her upper body strength didn't get stronger when she was angry.

* * *

Arthur walked down the halls of the American building, keeping his eyes open for a head of blonde hair. It quickly dawned on him that many nations were blonde, and this information only made him more annoyed as that was all he currently was thinking of for locating his former charge. Without that bear she carried everywhere and with her new wardrobe change, it was hard to spot her for other characteristics from afar. It was certainly lucky that he'd been able to remember her without fail lately, or else he'd be worried that he had simply overlooked her in one of her moments of invisibility. He had theory for this, though: maybe it was a result from all the stress the transformation was giving him, but it now seemed as though Matthew could stand out in a crowd if she tried hard enough. Now that the man was a woman, it was rather easy to not confuse her for her twin, as well. Back when Matthew was a boy, the siblings were basically mirror reflections. Now that the changes were blaringly obvious, he hadn't had a moment when he forgot the girl.

Though right now he couldn't, for the life of him, locate her anywhere. Seriously, you'd think the second largest nation in the world would be easier to notice.

He grimaced the small pang of guilt he felt when he remembered all the times he had overlooked the boy.

He backtracked back to the conference room, asking people along the way for 'Madeline's whereabouts, but no one had seen her after the meeting. As he neared the conference room, he found two nations crouched near the door, as though spying inside. He could rapidly tell they were Hungary and Japan, though what they were doing remained a mystery. Not that he particularly cared; being alive for several thousand years has a tendency to dim whatever natural curiosity one might've had years ago.

"Excuse me." Arthur watched in amusement as both nations jumped in surprise of his voice. They both wiped their heads in his direction with wide eyes and vainly attempted to hide their cameras with their bodies.

"Arthur!" Elizaveta exclaimed, standing in front of Kiku and forming a sort of blockade between Arthur and the door. She made a hand motion to Kiku behind her which Arthur didn't catch, and Kiku closed the door with a barely audible 'click'.

"I could ask you what you are bothering to hide, but I don't have the time nor interest." The blonde sighed. "I merely came to ask if either of you have caught sight of Madeline."

"Oh…" muttered Elizaveta, immensely glad that was all he had to ask. Once before, Roderich had forced her and Kiku to delete any and all pictures they had taken in another 'event', and the Hungarian had all but cried at the mere thought. It seemed her pictures were safe for now, and she couldn't be gladder.

'Though now that I think about it… he said Madeline instead of Matthew,' she mused, 'Arthur has no idea that both Kiku and I know about the change, does he?' She and Kiku had found out about Matthew at different times from Gilbert. Elizaveta realized Kiku knew while they were simply catching up before the second half of the meeting and both were well aware that Arthur had some sort of responsibility for the whole situation, but they were unsure of exactly _how_ he played a part in the mess.

The Japanese man decided to answer for Elizaveta, since he couldn't very well lie about the location of Arthur's son/daughter, especially when he was starting to look quite worried. Though it would mean an interruption to the one sided argument occurring inside and no more 'investigation' pictures from either him or Elizaveta, family welfare was much more important. "She's currently… speaking… with Gilbert-kun within the room."

"Is that so? Thank you, then." And the Englishman sidestepped the nations to enter the room.

He surely didn't expect to find Matthew and Gilbert on opposite sides of the table, the albino moving away frantically as the blonde threw random articles at the other's head.

He might've heard Elizaveta mutter something akin to 'Just _when_ did they move form the wall to the table?', but he paid that no mind.

"Matt-Madeline, lad! What in the blazes are you _doing_!"

"Eyebrows! Thank Gott you got here- grab her or something!" Gilbert yelled from across the room, unbelievably relieved that someone had finally walked in on them.

"Stay out of this, Arthur! This is between me and that soon-to-be-permanently-dissolved-idiot over there!" She glared harder when Gilbert ducked when she threw a stapler at him. She didn't even care -or maybe notice- that Elizaveta and Kiku were excitedly taking pictures, mumbling something that vaguely sounded similar to 'Tsundere love' or the likes.

The Englishman raised his hands to show the girl he meant no harm to her _or_ Gilbert, and tried to calm her down. "Madeline, if you'd please stop throwing other's possessions through the air for a moment and tell me just _what_ is going on, I'm sure we could fix whatever has you-"

She cut Arthur off before he could finish his sentence, "You wanna know _what_ he did, _Arthur?_" the way Matthew pronounced his name with such anger made Arthur wince. He had gotten a sudden flashback of the same thing Matthew had said to him after Alfred invaded York.

Immediately afterwards, Arthur wasn't so sure he wanted to know, but he nonetheless pressed on. "Y-yes, Madeline…If I knew, I'd help make everything fine once mor—"

"_Fine he says_!" She plopped down on a chair as she ran a hand through her unpinned strands of hair from her bangs. "You know what? Everything _would_ be fine if only that _fucking asshole_ over there—"

"Hey!" Gilbert stepped out from behind a nearby chair…not that he was hiding or anything, because he's too awesome to cower in the destructive fury of an angry Canadian. "I resent that!"

"Well I resent your face but it's still here unfortunately!" Canada stood quickly and threw the closest available object at Gilbert's head, displeased that Romano's forgotten tomato hadn't hit Gilbert after he hid behind a chair once more. She pointed straight at him and spoke in a louder than normal tone due to her bubbling anger.

"Not to mention that you're an arrogant lazy bastard that's always coming by unannounced, and you always ask for pancakes but never even offer to help make them, and your boots track mud all over my house when you lug your counter-productive ass everywhere, and then you climb inside my beds in the middle of the night but don't bother to make them in the morning, and…"

As soon as the words "climb into my bed(s)" rang throughout the room, Elizaveta nearly fainted thanks to the giant nosebleed from her mental images. Instead of insisting she rise like he did earlier when Francis tried to invade Arthur, Kiku quickly whipped out a notepad and started writing newly inspired doujinshi ideas.

After Arthur saw that Gilbert's mood was starting to dim—erringly similar to how Alfred would act when Matthew would rant about him—he walked over to the girl and placed an arm on his shoulder to calm her down.

"Madeline, poppet, you're ranting again…"

He felt he should've stayed quiet when the angry violet eyes turned on _him._ With the same venom she was using to describe Gilbert's faults, she pronounced every syllable of her next words. "_He_ told _them!_"

Arthur stood dumbstruck, not fully understanding what the Canadian said. It wasn't until she pointed to the two nations standing behind him, who were avoiding his gaze, when it all clicked for him.

Suddenly, there were _two_ nations out for Gilbert's head on a platter.

Prussia could _really_ run when he was properly motivated…

"Mein Gott, you've _gotta _be kiddin' me! At least hear me out, verdammt!"

Hungary took a break from browsing her new pictures on her camera to turn to Japan. "You know, we should probably help him out…"

Japan took a small break from jolting down his ideas. "You're right, Elizaveta-san…"

"Bu~t…" Hungary discreetly shut the conference door with a tap from her foot, "It'd be such a _shame_ to let such good blackmail material go to waste~…"

"…" Kiku's blank stare remained unfaltering. He glanced down at his notes, then up to the three nations arguing in the room, and finally to the closed door behind them. With a small shrug of his shoulders, and an almost guilty look, he answered his friend. "…It _is_ the perfect birthday present for Ludwig-san…"

Elizaveta's smile was wider than a five-year-old-kid at Christmas. "It's decided, then! Five more minutes!"

Gilbert took a break in his running to flip them both the bird, "TRAITORS!"

The Hungarian just waved him off and readied her camera, "Less talking, more running~!" And with a glare straight out from her war days, she smiled menacingly at Prussia. "You'd better hope Roderich doesn't accidentally find these pictures, Gilbert. I'd be _very_ disappointed if _someone_ told him I was…'investigating' again."

"Stay still! Britannia fork!"

The albino barely had time to choke out the words before Arthur produced a fork out of freaking _nowhere_ and threw it at his body. "Fucking psycho bitch…"

"Now, now Gilbert!" She took another picture, smirk still in place, "Move those legs!"

* * *

Three full films of pictures, two five-minute videos, a concussion, and an hour later, all five nations found themselves inside the Canadian's hotel room. They were all inside the small bedroom, where Gilbert laid against a chair as Matthew and Kiku wrapped some bandages around his head. After all the rage had been forced out of her body trough abusing Gilbert, she had felt a _little_ bad and responsible for what happened. Arthur had just ignored the albino's injuries and poked fun at him, mentioning how the ex-nation was getting too old to keep up with everyone else. Gilbert might've made a brilliant, jaw-dropping and snarky reply had he been able to tell which of the five Arthurs he could see was the real one. Arthur and Matthew took the opportunity to explain exactly all that had happened and what they planned to do as soon as the meeting was over: fly to England and check for a counter-potion. Throughout the whole ordeal, Gilbert kept muttering curses as he winced at some of his aching bruises.

"Fuckin' assholes…all of you…"

"Stop complaining, Gil." The blonde girl cut his newest rant and put a little too much pressure in one of the bandages on his head, ignoring the scowl directed at her action, "Just be glad I decided not to throw one of the conference chairs at you."

"Be glad that-! You DID throw a chair at me!" The Prussian rose from the chair and pointed an accusing finger at Matthew, who looked impassive.

Sitting on it the bed with his arms crossed, Arthur shot a glare at Gilbert, still angry for telling two more nations about his magical slip-up with his ex-charge. "No, that was _me._"

Gilbert glared at Arthur as soon as he spoke the words. He muttered a low 'Figures…' before sitting back down so the others could continue to patch him up.

"So, Elizaveta explained the reason why you told her, but I'm still drawing a blank as to how Kiku could help," Matthew looked to the silent nation to her side, "No offense."

With a small bow and a smile, Kiku replied, "None taken."

Murmuring a low 'oh sure, ask me _after _the beat down', Gilbert began to explain. He mentioned how he was sure it would slip out eventually (which earned a grumbled moan from Matthew), that it would help Elizaveta 'cope' by having a fellow otaku-fanatic know the deal (yeah, he knew Japanese terms, bitches!), he pointed how Kiku tended to visit often due to running errands for Yao and Yong Soo and might accidentally find out anyways, and he vouched that his friend could keep a secret and wouldn't tell a soul. Add in the fact that he would offer any help covering for any sudden complications regarding Canada, or Quebec for everyone else, and having Kiku know as well seemed like a pretty convincing idea.

"Besides," Prussia pulled out his trump card, knowing it would seal the whole deal, "I told him before the meeting started. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have vouched for you when Bugger-boy started asking if the whole Quebec-thing was legit."

Elizaveta gave a slight nod, "As much as it pains me to agree with him, he has a point. Even I was convinced, and I still didn't know the truth back then."

Arthur turned to Kiku with slightly raised eyebrows. "You mean, you commented because you _knew_?"

"Hai," Japan gave a firm nod, and turned to Canada, "I wanted to help in any way I could. I'm quite sure I wouldn't have intervened if I didn't know; after all, since personalized provinces and cities are so rare, they have a tendency to know each other pretty well. Had I thought you were a real province, I would've just waited for you to answer Alfred-kun yourself."

"Ah…" the blonde girl smiled brightly and gave a grateful nod to Kiku, happy he had intervened when he did. She didn't have any personalized provinces or territories of her own, so she honestly didn't know how to answer her brother back then. She felt utterly relieved now, "You helped quite a lot with Alfred's question. Thank you very much."

"Hey…" Gilbert pouted from his seat, crossing his arms like a child denied of dessert, "Don't I deserve some sort of thanks? I was the one who awesomely thought about telling him, after all."

"You are being spared from dying in the most horrible and creative way the embodiment of Canada can think of, and Canadians invented zippers and poutine: trust me, you got off lucky."

It was the way she said it so nonchalantly, as if commenting on the weather, that made everyone else in the room feel chills running down their spines. Prussia effectively shut up and remained silent as the bandages were being applied to his sore head.

Hungary was the first one to break the silence after Gilbert was fully tended to. "So, Matthew…Let me ask you to get a main idea of how things are going so far with your change." She stood and walked over to the unmade suitcase with the Canadian flag drawn on it, lying atop the bedroom's main dresser. Ignoring the other girl's indignant squeak from having her contents so casually looked through, she unlocked the suitcase's clasps and flung the top open.

Elizaveta tilted her head to the side, as if confused by something. Kiku was the only one that noticed Matthew's face go red as she plopped down on her bed. The brunette woman pulled out several articles of clothing at once, showing them to the other nations in the room with her. Gilbert snorted, but tried to keep his laughter contained as Arthur and Kiku stared on, wondering why Elizaveta seemed so disbelieving of what she was holding. Matthew stayed silent.

"Matthew darling…" she placed down the maple-print delicates she grabbed on the bedside table, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at the embarrassed nation, "_Please_ tell me you decided to buy female underwear and haven't been wearing _male boxers_ this entire time."

Japan and England's mouths made perfect little 'O's as they finally understood why Hungary looked so exasperated and why Prussia was trying so hard not to laugh out loud.

"Matthew, I thought you bought underwear yesterday when we went shopping..?"

"I'm wearing a bra, for God's sake! I think we should be taking baby steps with this whole thing!"

An extremely deep sigh bounced off the walls as Hungary sat next to Canada. She spoke to the guys, "Mattie and I need to have a private talk, so all of you: step out until we're done."

"W-wait a second," protested the Canadian's father, "Is that really necessary? I mean, surely anything you have to say can be hea-"

Gilbert shot from his seat and clasped a hand over the Brit's mouth, breaking into a cold sweat and dragging the surprised man away, "Yeah us three will be…outside or something…yeah, let's go Kiku!"

Visibly confused, yet willing to do as Gilbert said, Kiku followed the other two males outside. Once they were a good four rooms away from Canada's own, Arthur dug his feet into the carpet and refused to move until he was freed. Once he was, he angrily turned to his 'kidnapper' of sorts. "What's wrong with you, you wanker! You don't drag a gentleman away in the middle of a conversation!"

Gilbert scoffed, and kept walking down the hall, knowing the other two would follow, "You were asking for an unawesome death wish. Didn't you see the way Elz was glaring down at you for not doing as she said? Trust me; I just saved your face from being smashed with a frying pan."

The other two nations stopped abruptly when Gilbert had a sudden realization, judging from the way he slapped his (still sore) head and muttered out a German curse. "_Why_ didn't I let you suffer? It could've been payback for throwing that chair at me!"

Arthur simply glared as Kiku taped his chin in thought. "That reminds me, I need to print these pictures and make Elizaveta-san and I albums."

"Wait, what? Hey! Kiku don't even think of—get back here!"

The Englishman gave a deep sigh as he saw the other two nations run away. He slightly wondered if Matthew would be fine on her own with someone as…_spontaneous_ as Elizaveta…

Surely she'd be fine, right?

* * *

"Umm…Elizaveta…where did you pull that frying pan from?"

The brunette just smiled innocently, all signs of malicious intent gone now that the two women were alone. "It's called 'hammer space'. Kiku taught it to me one day, but that's not what's important."

Violet eyes stared intently at forest green ones, shrugging off the weird topic and wondering what Elizaveta wanted to talk about. If it was just about the underwear, surely the guys could've stayed behind and hear as well?

She felt her shoulders get incredibly heavy at the thought. She wasn't one of the guys now, was she?

She was brought back down to Earth when Elizaveta grabbed her shoulders and made firm eye contact, wanting the blonde to take the situation seriously. She waited patiently for Elizaveta to speak.

"I…" she seemed to pause in a search for the right words, "Out of every nation out there…I'm probably the one that knows most about how you're feeling right now," she noticed the way the other's violet eyes widened but continued, "You most likely know, but I lived most of my life thinking I was a boy until I found out I was terribly wrong. It was like the whole world crashed down on me, and I didn't know what was up or down anymore…"

Elizaveta placed her hands gently on top of her lap, eyes not quite focusing on them, but beyond, to her memories and feelings of years ago, "I even went as far to lie to myself that I was still a boy…it wasn't until I met up with Gilbert again that I noticed that I was just fooling with the truth like a stubborn mule."

Canada's breath hitched. That was just how she felt! Her whole world turned topsy-turvy because of this, and she even thought this whole thing was a joke or illusion… She never told anyone, but the night she first slept as a woman, huddled with Kumajirou, she deeply hoped with every fiber of her being that it was all some dream she would wake from soon, only to have her hopes crash and burn the very next morning. She was hopelessly captivated by the Hungarian's words, and she felt her heart swell at the mere thought that someone, truly someone, knew what she felt like.

"Heh, to be honest, even if he drives me up the wall sometimes, I still appreciate Gilbert for still trying to treat me like a guy long ago. You never heard this from me, but…It made me happy that he gave an attempt to act like nothing happened…It made me realized that everything would be fine…that even if I wasn't really a boy, I was still me, still Hungary, y' know?..."

"Yeah…" Matthew mused, thinking back to that night when Gilbert knocked on her door, demanding pancakes. Sure, he had been surprised, but he still treated her like Matthew, like Canada, the arctic nation he befriended nearly two years ago. The fact she was no longer a guy didn't change the way he looked at her, and he still acted like his easygoing self. She could feel the corners of her mouth twitch slightly upwards, "Gil has that kind of effect on people, doesn't he?"

The other nodded happily, giggling a bit. "Like he's the last Coke in the desert and the world's turning to Pepsi."

Matthew couldn't help but burst out laughing, grabbing her stomach as she did so. She couldn't think of a better way to explain Gilbert. A never changing symbol in the fast-paced world they all lived in. She slightly registered that her shoulders didn't feel as heavy as they did before, and it wasn't until later that night that she would realize it was the first time she _really, genuinely _laughed since she transformed. "That's just like him! Hahahaha!"

Nodding, Hungary decided to finish her story. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… even if things are _really_ different from how they seemed to be, you're still Canada and you're still Matthew Williams, even if you can't proudly shout it out at the moment. Some things will still remain the same, and you have friends to help you out when you need it! And best of all, this isn't permanent yet, I have the upmost faith that you and Arthur will be successful in turning things back to normal, Hun. And hey, I'm sure this whole ordeal will make it pretty much impossible for me or Kiku to overlook you for the rest of our chaos-filled lives. That's a lovely bonus, right?"

Matthew agreed silently. "So a small thing like braving my despair and actually buying women's underwear won't make me any less Matthew or any less Canada. I get what you're saying."

Hungary winked and pulled the Canadian up by the arms, moving towards the room entrance. "So we're going out for a quick trip to the store. This shouldn't take longer than an hour, including the car ride…unless we get stuck in traffic, or course."

When a thought passed through Matthew's mind, she pulled the brunette's sleeve to get her attention. She fidgeted with her fingers, hoping she wasn't prying with her natural curiosity on the subject, but she deeply wanted to know…"Do you…ever regret not being a boy anymore?"

That question honestly caught her of guard. She hadn't really thought about it for a long time. Did she regret not being a 'male' anymore?

"…No. I don't regret it." Her smile was honest and showed no signs of lying, "If I hadn't been a girl, I might've never become such good friends with the other female nations, and I might not have married Roderich, and I'm truly happy with him."

The loving tone she used truly brought a blush to the blonde's cheeks. This woman she had never even talked to before this very day…she was truly amazing. So strong and confident…it made Matthew feel just the tiniest bit jealous! Would she ever be as confident as her, or as her brother or fathers? She hoped so. Maybe one day, she'd be able to show the world who she was and not be overlooked or confused for someone else. Right! After all, if all she did was mope around and complain about how things stayed the same, she'd be stuck in neutral forever! She needed to grab life by the reigns while she still could! The first step was having a positive attitude, so she would start there and work her way up!

"Besides! If I had ended up as a boy, Gilbert would drag me out to drink every other night—obviously making me pay- and that is one headache I can live without."

The girls walked on, chatting about this and that as they made their way outside the hotel resort and towards some random shopping mall they could find.

The whole ride back, when she accidentally fell asleep clutching her new shopping bag to her chest as Hungary drove, Matthew honestly had peaceful dreams for the first time in two long days.

* * *

**A/N:** This was gonna be 2k only, but now it's over 5k in length and my second longest chapter overall in total words. Yay for my muse named Muse! ^^

So! Relived the whole 'rapture' thing didn't happen. I wonder what those who thought it would happen are feeling like right now. The must be bummed they were lied to…who _convinced_ them that today was Judgment Day anyway? How does all that work out? A random day is chosen just like that, for no real reason? My interest is piqued…

Sigh…It's nice to write to get my mind off things. I got freaked out big time last weekend. I live in Puerto Rico and it somehow hailed. As in ice-chunks-fell-from-the-freaking-sky-in-_summer_, hailed- in a _tropical island_. How freaky is _that_!

But! Writing this relieves stress, so I feel much better now :)

And~ this story is stoking my flames of passion for CanUk! I _badly_ want to write one I've had in my mind for around a full year, almost…but I'm not sure I'd be able to upload it as much as _this_ story. PruCan _is_ my OTP after all, while CanUK is just a _very_ close second…

**Song recommendation~!** Let's see… Everyone here has heard the Japan-Switzerland _Yo-ho-ho, Tra-la-la_ song in Hetalia World Series? It's short, but it is simply HILARIOUS! And it has Switzerland in a dress! What more could you ask for? XD

And, sorry to say this**, no more fanfic recommendations**. I just realized that some Authors might not like to have their stories out and recommended like this, since it may make them feel uncomfortable and such. It honestly hit me like a ton of bricks and I hope no one feels bad, so if I've advertised one of your fanfics and are unhappy about it, please PM me and I'll take it down from my story. Sorry for not having noticed this sooner… -bows-

Was this chapter even funny? I don't know... This story isn't classified as humor anyway, but... Anyways, _**Review please!**_


	11. Morning of the Last Day

Unexpected Changes

Chapter eleven: Morning of the Last Day

**A/n:** Around a month since my last chapter..?

-Insert long-ass excuse here-

…and thus, I heroically saved the Earth from suffering a summer without Fun Dip Candy and I ended up updating late. Sorry. Happy (late) Daddy's Day, though! ^^

This isn't anything big, just something to get me back in the writing wave. Also, _**every single previous chapter **_has been updated in some way or form. Less typos; I changed the location of Matthew's house, it is now near the border, inside Manitoba. And Chapter 4 now has 600 extra words near the middle. _Nothing plot-worthy_, just Mattie mussing what it would have been like had Alfred, Francis or Russia taken the potion instead of him. Read if you want~

Also, I posted a chibi!Canada x chibi!Romano friendship oneshot called _A Kiss for You_. Read it, please~! Well, if you like attempted fluff on those two omega cute nations, that is~!

**Warnings:** Language, OOC, even BIGGER fail at humor by trying to add a bit of comedic horror to it (you read right), weirdness... This shouldn't even be a chapter, what the funk is this? !

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fun Dip or Hetalia. –Sigh-, when is the English version of the PSP game coming out? I wanna date some Hetalia boyz! OAO

* * *

-Recap-

Arthur and Matthew learn the reasons why Gilbert disclosed the secret to Elizaveta and Kiku and agreed with his reasoning, and Matthew finds a kindred spirit in Elizaveta due to her gender-confused past. Still, there are two more days until Matthew and Arthur can search for a cure in England. What else awaits Canada and her friends in the near future?

* * *

Surprisingly, after the high and chaos of the first day, the second day progressed delightfully well for 'Madeline'. Sure, it was kind of hard to top the mess that occurred the first day to begin with, but thankfully, nothing extremely out of the ordinary happened. Matthew did, however, receive a couple of texts by the start of the 3rd day, which came as something completely unexpected to her. They were from Lars (Netherlands), Katyusha (Ukraine) and Francis. They all wished 'him' the best of luck with 'his' work and hoped 'he' would be able to attend the next meeting, with much more wishes of love, embraces, and kisses from Francis' text. It really touched Madeline, since she was almost completely sure nobody would miss 'him', especially with the sudden arrival of someone new. Just because of that, she felt she would stay happy for the remainder of the day. With a new spring in her step, she pocketed her phone and started the brand new day.

Since it was already the fourth-sort-of-fifth day since she gained a woman's body, Matthew had learned to cope with her appearance…a little… It still felt weird and just plain wrong to even look at herself with anything less than a shirt and shorts on, but she had to manage. Elizaveta had also informed her on the _correct _way to wear her underwear. She probably never would've learned bras weren't meant to be placed on like shirts if it wasn't for her help. She threw on her outfit for the day, took care of her hygiene and dialed the number for her home in Manitoba, where Kumamizu was staying at. She knew her bear was more than capable of taking care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry about him sometimes, especially when she left him alone for days at a time and had no idea of what he could be up to.

A few rings later, and the tell-tale click of the phone being answered met Matthew's ears.

"Hello, Kumashiro. How's everything?"

"Who?" the blonde could practically see the bear tilt his head in her mind's eye. Inside her house, there was only one phone the bear could answer, and that was the kitchen phone. It was placed on a small table with an ottoman nearby that the bear could easily climb. All he had to do was press the green 'answer' and the 'speaker' buttons with his nose of paw and he could talk without any difficulty. Of course, he couldn't exactly read caller ID, though something told her that wasn't the reason why he asked 'who' this time as well.

"It's Canada. Is everything ok?"

"Oh. Everything's fine."

Canada smiled in return, happy with the response. "Ok, I'll be gone for one day longer than normal because of an errand I have to attend, so I won't be back today…" she quickly took a peek at a planner she had of the week on her nightstand, "Tomorrow, the eight, I'll call before going home from England. I _should_ be home late at night of the eight or early on the ninth, all right?"

"Who are you, again?"

"Matthew, your owner." She was way too used to answering her bear its never-changing identity questions. Oh well, she could never remember his name, so she couldn't blame him for not remembering her name, either. That's just the special, weird kind of connection they shared. "Take care, don't let strangers in the house, even if they offer free fish. See you later."

"Bye." Kumajirou pushed the button to end the call with his damp nose and walked out of the kitchen. The living room was pretty much a mess, with other animals such as other bears, beavers, moose and goose moving throughout the room and house. He was still fairly certain he'd get the place cleaned before Manny got home… wait, that wasn't her name, was it?

Matthew hung up the phone and grabbed her suitcase before heading out the door for breakfast.

Yup, she was certain today would be a good day.

She locked her room door and took her time walking to the elevator, eyeing the decorations and appearance of the hallway. She had to admit, as irresponsible as Alfred liked to be sometimes, he really knew how to impress when he wanted to. She couldn't remember the name of the hotel at the moment, but it was sure grand and spacious. Even better, it was big enough to house all the nations in their own rooms, and had extra large beds for special cases like the Italy twins or Sweden and Finland, which liked to share rooms. This was definitively to her advantage. If she wasn't comfortable with her own body, she was sure she'd feel even more nervous out sharing a room with someone who would share the same bathroom and closet. Now that she pondered more about it, she would've ended with a male roommate, since she was signed under Canada, the _male_ representative. If that wouldn't have been awkward enough, there probably would've been a change so she would have a _female_ roommate. She didn't know which would be worse: a room with a guy that could possibly see her naked, or a room with a girl that _she_ could possibly see naked.

Canada reached the end of the hall without fully noticing, too caught up in her world of possibilities. She placed her suitcase beside her on the ground and pressed the elevator button pointing downwards; she was glad an elevator was already making its journey from a few floors above her, especially since the other elevator had a sign that said 'out of order'. She'd hate having to walk all the way to the other end of the hall to call another elevator that would pick her up sooner. She saw the elevator-position light stop a floor closer to hers, probably because someone just boarded. It stopped on floor 32 and she was on floor 29. This hotel sure was big…

As she waited for the elevator light to signal its movement, she couldn't help but remember her last train of thought… She shook her head sharply. She didn't need to be depressed by what could've been so early in the morning. It was going to be a nice day, right? Right! A fine day before heading to England's to find a cure and such.

**Ding!**

'_Oh, the elevator's here…'_ Matthew picked up her suitcase once more and waited for the door to open. Nothing was going to go wrong toda—

"Ah~, if it isn't Mini-_Matvey_!"

"Ack!"

Matthew recognized the voice before she recognized the face. She had a smaller stature now, so she had to tilt her head upwards to look the person in the face anyways. Big coat, long scarf, curved nose, violet eyes… Sure enough, looking down at her was the ever-smiling face of the only nation bigger than her.

She had the elevator that Russia was in.

There was nobody else in the elevator with him.

They were on the twenty-ninth floor.

The next elevator was out of service.

The other working elevators were on the other side of the very long hallway.

Fuck.

Ivan, still smiling, pressed the button that held the elevator doors open, "We should hurry, _da_? The line for breakfast gets really long after nine, and the other elevator isn't working right now, unfortunately~"

The way he said it, it almost sounded like _he_ was the one that broke the other elevator, and he sounded proud of it. Gulping slightly, Matthew took stiff and short steps until she was inside the elevator, and stood tensely besides Ivan, who seemed to be ignoring the way the smaller nation seemed to be shaking slightly beside him.

Now, on any other day, Matthew might've said a greeting to Ivan, might've shaken his hand, cracked a joke about hockey, and would've laughed off any comments about 'becoming one'. But now wasn't exactly 'any other day'. 'Quebec' and Russia had never fully interacted before that moment, and one rule every nation knew was that Ivan was incredibly quick to judge people he newly met. The very first time Russia and Canada met, for example: Canada was quite young and too innocent to really get on anyone's bad side, add the fact that both nations had very similar climates, and the Russian found no reason to hate the blonde nation. The first time America and Russia were formally introduced to each other, as example number two: the very first thing America said to and about Russia was about his 'big-boned'-ness, and today, Russia can't say three sentences to Alfred without them ending on each other's throats, try as they might to end otherwise. The first time Latvia met Russia, as example number three: Latvia's "diarrhea of the mouth" accidentally insulted lightly some of Russia's lineage of rulers, and now… well… everyone knows that Latvia hasn't grown an inch in the last three-hundred years…

In shorter words, if she did one single thing by accident and got on his bad side, Russia might be out to make Quebec miserable, even if just a little, and what would he do when Quebec mysteriously disappeared in the next few days? He'd go after Canada, of course! _Dieu_ her morning just got a whole lot worse…

As Russia let go of the button he had been pressing down and the elevator doors started closing, Matthew's last chance at freedom seemed to close as well. She let out a big sigh and hoped for the best.

* * *

Three stops along the way, and Matthew noticed something peculiar. True to what Ivan said, around nine, many people woke for the early servings of breakfast, but somehow, their particular elevator still maintained its previous two members only. Every time they stopped at a floor, the door would open, and nobody would be there. All that was left was for the lights to go out, and a standard high-pitched scream and it would seem like the perfect setting for a horror movie. Of course, when Russia's standing less than ten centimeters from you, the scenario is scary enough even with all the lights on.

Not minding that, Matthew seemed to realize exactly _why_ every time the doors opened, no one was standing by, waiting. It occurred on the third stop. When the elevator stopped on floor twenty-two, she saw a small puffin and what vaguely looked like Iceland trying to keep it out of sight mere seconds before the doors closed. Those other nations _knew_ that Russia might be heading out and stayed out of sight just in case! The sneaky bastards!

Soon after wards, she just decided she'd have to deal with it, it's not like she could suddenly walk out of the elevator before reaching the ground floor.

Giving a long sigh, Matthew decided to lean her back against the wall of the elevator behind her. This seemed to catch the silent man's attention, as he turned to her. To her surprise, he seemed rather worried about something.

"Are you still sleepy, _Madlen_? You look a bit down…"

Canada tilted her name at the weird version of her name. "_Madlen_?"

Russia smiled once again, but an honest kind of smile, not the one he usually had on all the time, "_Da_! _Madlen_! It is quite hard for me to pronounce your normal name, _Madlelaine_. Uh…"

Silence.

"Pft…" Matthew tried to stifle her giggles, but the way Russia had tried to say her fake name just sounded so…weird, and…cute! It was incredibly hard for her _not_ to laugh, no matter what laughing might've meant for 'Quebec and Russia's first-impression meeting. "_Madlen_ is, hehe, just fine, thank you."

"Is it? I can keep calling you Mini-_Matvey_, as well!" Ivan didn't seem to mind that Madeline found the ordeal slightly funny, and was Madeline _glad_ for that.

"Any way is fine. Y-you…don't mind if I call you Ivan, do you?"

Ivan smiled again and gave a small shake of his head. "_Nyet_, any way will be fine with me, too."

"Alright then," Madeline clasped her hands together and smiled as well, "Ivan it is." It seemed like she didn't get on the Russian's bad side at all, which meant good news for her. Russia might seem greatly intimidating, but as long as you don't start on his bad side, it is quite easy to make simple, small talk with him. It also helped if he remembered not to sit on you during meetings, but Matthew's nature made it easy for her to forgive and forget most incidents, so long as they were accidental, of course.

"Oh, that's right…" violet eyes met each other, "Ivan, do you have any idea why the other elevator is damaged? If I remember correctly, it was working just fine last night."

"Eh?" Ivan's complexion turned just a bit paler, and he seemed to be grasping something inside his coat tightly with his right hand, evading eye contact. It just made the smaller nation all the more curious, although nervous as well…"Well, it is a bit hard to explain clearly, _da_?... I think it is safer if you not know the full reason…"

Clutching the handle of her own suitcase harder, Matthew couldn't help but shiver a little. Ivan, as weird and _impossible_ as it might've sounded, seemed scared. Whatever scared _Ivan_ must've been truly frighteni—

**Scratch… scratch. Thunk.**

"Gah!" The Canadian jumped a good three inches into the air. "Wh-what the hell was that? !"

**Scratch, scraaaatch…scree-thunk. Thump.**

The blonde turned to Ivan and found him pressing himself against the elevator doors, as if he hoped to blend or become one with them. It really didn't help Matthew calm down, not at all. Just where the hell was that creepy noise coming from? And what could it be if it made _Ivan_ cower in fear?

**Screetch… screetch….**

"_Брааааааа_т_...__"_

_'Wait…Is that...Is that a voice? !'_ Matthew looked sharply to her right. Oddly enough…the sound was… coming from… the wall..?

"_Nyeeeet_…" Russia seemed to grasp the item inside his coat even tighter. Matthew could now tell it was his pipe from the shape it made against the giant coat, but Russia seemed to be gripping it for reassurance rather than for any malicious purpose.

Matthew leaned closer to Ivan, both keeping their eyes fixed on the wall of the still decending elevator, "Ivan, isn't behind that wall the other elevator line?"

"_Da_…"

"The one that shouldn't be operating because it's out of commission?"

"_D_-_da_…"

"T-then…" she gulped heavily, "How is it possible for a _voice_ to be coming f-from…" she tried pointing at the wall when the words started to fail her. " Th-there?"

"_Брааааааа_т… _Брааааааа_т_…_ _Why do I hear the voice of another woman,_ _Браааа_т_..?_"

Canada's eyes went as wide as saucers. _'Oh crisse.' _All she could think to do was to hold her suitcase close to her chest as some kind of flimsy piece of armor that would protect her from a vicious, fire-breathing dragon or some other kind of monster than would undoubtedly be better than what she suspected to be waiting behind that wall.

"Брат." Both nations froze at the even colder tone the voice gained. "No matter how hard you try, you can't run away…"

Then, as the elevator wall seemed to simply _peel_ backwards as a small and sharp knife tore a clean cut through it and a hand came from the abyss behind it and pulled the wall back, both nations could finally see the bright yellow eyes of one of the scariest beings ever to walk the Earth.

"Now Брат… _Marry me marry me marry me marry me marry me marry me_—"

And Russia just couldn't take it anymore.

"GO AWAYYYYY! !"

As Russia took his pipe and smashed the control panel of the elevator, also making a hole big enough on the front of the elevator, he threw himself at the opening and promptly ran away, Belarus practically _crawling_ from the gaping space she tore from the wall to slowly stalk after her brother, chanting her mantra like a life line.

Behind stayed Canada, still clutching her suitcase tightly, unable to move from her corner in the elevator from fear that _something_ might happen and she might get eaten alive or something. She stared at where Belarus tore and sliced the wall, noticing how there was _nothing_ on the other side—no stairs, no cables, no ledge for her to wait on, just deep gashes on the walls the shape of perfectly manicured fingernails. Finally standing up, though shakily, Matthew also crawled through the opening Russia made and stepped onto more reliable ground. She saw that the wall said floor twelve, still pretty—

**Snap**

Turning around quickly, Matthew could only stare in horror as the elevator he was no less than ten seconds in snapped from the cables pulling it up and fell down twelve floor, directly onto the bottom floor.

**FWOOOO-**

**CRASH**

"…"

'_D-did what I-I see, just…happen?'_

The Canadian could only stand in shock as she heard some sort of alarm activate and the tell-tale voice of Alfred yelling how 'That was sooo cool!' even though she seemed to be over ten floors from where he was.

A good three minutes later, Matthew pulled her phone from her coat pocket and dialed the most recent number in her contact list, not truly caring _who_ picked up.

"Yo, Birdie! Where are you? You're not gonna _believe_ what just happened here on the Lobby! It was fucking _awesome_!" The Prussian's voice boomed on the other side of her call line, and Matthew was glad the number was of someone who was already on the ground floor. That would make things easier.

"Hey Gil, please pick me up a seat and a plate of pancakes with two full bottles of Maple Syrup by the time I get down there." Matthew ended coughing out the end of her sentence, voice still a bit shaky from the whole event.

"Whoa, what's with you? You sound like shit-"

"Just _do it_, Prussia."

The albino just scoffed, but Matthew could tell he was moving from the different background noises she could hear over the alarm. "Geez, what crawled up your ass and died? Fine, I'll have it ready in five minutes, but hurry or I'm eating it all."

The Canadian hung up her phone, pocketed it, and started walking her way down the hall, towards the big grey door near the other set of elevators. She pushed the door open and strated making her way down to the Lobby, cursing violently the whole way.

"Goddammit, I don't care if I have to go all the way to the _fiftieth floor_, I'm taking the fucking stairs next time..."

Screw ' having a good day', she'd be lucky to survive the morning.

* * *

**A/n:** Hey! If you rip it near the top, you can open the Fun Dip! Yay, Candy~! –was seriously trying to open it for the past hour-

**There's 'fanart' of this story on my profile page! ! Check if you want to.**

As I said, it's just a thing to show that I'm not dead or anything. It's like another filler chapter to show that I fully plan to continue this stor—Ack! My Dip Stick broke! Is this punishment for this fail!chapter? OAO

Hey, Obama was over here in Puerto Rico a few days ago if you didn't know. He stayed for _four_ hours, but the flight was _six_ hours…that just doesn't make sense to me… I think it would've been better to make the whole visit-thing private instead of blaring it out at every television or newspaper -_-"

**A song, you say?** _W.D.C, World Dancing_ by America is almost as fun as _Hamburger Street_, and the ending is soo like Alfred~! Sayin' that everyone has to back him up and that he'll obviously be the HERO! –Insert Alfred FREEDOM Jones Smile Here-

**Note for ATC:** Hey, how the heck did you know I was planning on doing that? ! Your PS was creepily accurate! Hehe, but the reasons _why_ will be different than just normal Prussian behavior and it'll be MUCH later on in the story XD. Btw, thank you for the various reviews you've left until now~! They honestly give me awesome ideas for chapter that never even existed in the first place! (Seriously, Mattie getting angry with Gilbert after the conference? Didn't even exist as an idea until I read one of your reviews, so thanks!)

**Read and Review, please~!**


	12. Breakfast with the others

Unexpected Changes

Chapter twelve: Breakfast with the others

**A/n:** Why must chapters get harder to write..?

I might use Madeline for Canada when she's near other nations, like I did with Russia in the last chapter! Sorry I made Natalya stalk you, Ivan! (I have to say that. I don't want to 'become one' with him! :A:)

**Warnings:** OOCness. Pretty much the same as always. I should stop putting up these things…

**Disclaimer:** I'm not the owner of Hetalia. If I was, I'd know for _sure_ if HRE was Germany already!

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew's last day goes from amazingly well to amazingly not with an elevator ride she won't soon forget. She just hopes the rest of the last conference day goes better…

* * *

At the restaurant of the hotel the world nations were staying in, most if not all of the nations talking were commenting about the commotion that occurred that morning in the Hotel Lobby. Apparently, Norway and Denmark were waiting nearby for Iceland to catch up with them before eating together when they saw the elevator doors break and tumble forwards to the floor before them with a deafening crash. It only took Poland two minutes to notice the crash, take a picture, and tweet all the known details to every single nation. Canada didn't even know she _had_ a twitter account, but she guessed her brother or Gilbert made one for her by hacking into her email account…again. She should probably start changing her password to something they would never guess correctly…like 'silence' or something…

Since Canada herself got a front-row seat to all the horror that happened within the 'deathly-metal-death-trap-of-death', as she mentally dubbed it, she simply tried to block out all conversations as she ate her breakfast. However, while sitting in the same table as Prussia… that was easier said than done.

"I mean, that's the second one already, right? It's not even been twelve full hours since the first one broke and all—Hey, are you even listening, Maddie?"

That's another thing. Since Gilbert couldn't use his old nickname near other nations, he resorted to calling her 'Maddie', short for Madeline. That was a nickname more girly than Mattie and obviously less girly than Birdie, but it annoyed Canada when she was called that, for some reason…

"How can she not? We're all trying to ignore you, dumbass."

'Ah, Lovino to the rescue, with his ever-so-charming vocabulary…'

Once Madeline had painstakingly walked down the twelve (it felt like so many more…) remaining floors, she made a beeline for the restaurant, glad it wasn't as full as it usually got after nine a.m.; most people were still gathered at the scene of the scene of the incident since it occurred less than fifteen minutes ago. Once there, she made herself a quick cup of coffee, pitch black, and searched for Gilbert's table. Mainly, the one where the loud talking and international swears were emanating from.

Even before she was within yelling distance from it, the Canadian could see all the other nations at the table… or rather, at the many connected tables. Around four were lined up, one beside the other, in order to accommodate everyone seated. She could see Gilbert, Ludwig, Feliciano, Lovino, Antonio, Roderich, Elizaveta and Kiku all seated. Apparently, more nations had been seating there earlier, if the half-eaten plates on the vacant seats were anything to go by; from the looks of it, at least five more nations had up and left before eating their food. Madeline just sat directly across from Gilbert, where her plate stacked with over fifteen pancakes laid already, and set her coffee down before murmuring a half-felt 'hi' to the rest of the table. She noticed her top pancake had two triangles taken from it, no doubt because she had been twice as late as Gilbert told her to be before he arrived. She didn't really mind, and started eating.

She showed no signs of noticing how _most_ of the other nations were looking at her weirdly for sitting in a table full of people she (supposedly) didn't know. Only Kiku and Elizaveta weren't surprised, only slightly worried of the possibility that other nations might begin to ask questions. Yesterday Madeline had eaten breakfast and dinner in her room looking over some of her notes and talking to her Prime Minister Harper, and the first day was wasted chasing Prussia around with a chair for telling them about 'the secret'. Naturally, this was 'Quebec's first time eating with any other nations, which would undoubtedly raise some eyebrows…

Gilbert either didn't care or didn't give the whole ordeal much thought and just started chatting away as though the situation was completely normal. Soon afterwards, all the other clueless nations decided to drop the issue and ignore the oddity as well; they had more than enough chairs for everybody after all. Kiku and Elizaveta also acted as though nothing was wrong, but they kept giving small, unnoticeable glances at the others in case someone got curious about 'the new girl'.

Fast forward about two minutes, and Matthew would presently find herself already using up one entire bottle of Maple syrup on her stack of pancakes, much to the surprise of some other nations on the table.

"Wow, that's a lot of syrup, _niñita_! You use as much syrup as Lovino uses tomatoes, I think…"

"Are you _implying_ something?" Lovino shot a quick glare to Antonio, who failed to notice his charge's growing irritation.

"Ve, you _do_ love tomatoes a whole lot, _fratello_!" Italy shot one of his bright smiles at his brother, as oblivious to Lovino's mood as Spain.

"Just shut up and eat, idiots…"the brunette gave a sigh, knowing he was dealing with a lost case, as continued eating his breakfast.

"Well," interrupted Gilbert, swallowing a piece of wurst before continuing, "little-miss-maple-pants here only wastes a full bottle of syrup when she's 'moody', so be careful she doesn't bite a finger off—"

Madeline only stopped eating to deliver a swift kick under the table at Gilbert's shin, and slightly smiled at the German curses she heard.

Ludwig simply stared a bit before asking what no doubt was on most of their minds.

"And how exactly do you know so much about Madeline, _brudder?_"

Elizaveta and Kiku both froze for a quick second, not yet having a solid excuse for a question. Madeline, unfortunately, chocked on a bite of her pancakes and forcefully swallowed her food with her still steaming and unsweetened coffee. It was all she could do to not cringe as she shook off Feliciano's concerned gaze. Luckily, Gilbert had actually expected that question like that and replied in a beat. "She's a province of Canada's, and I'm friends with the guy, so we're tight."

"Ah, right," Austria added in from the other corner of the table, "the poor fellow that puts up with you when you 'get tired of grazing us with your presence'…" Canada briefly wondered how she could _know_ he used air quotes since his voice remained even throughout the whole sentence.

"Whatever, specs!" Gilbert snapped back, "Not my fault you can't lighten up to jokes and have Eliza follow after me with furniture—"

A loaf of bread flew over three seats and bounced of Gilbert's head in such a precise way that left Madeline's jaw slightly slacked. Elizaveta's voice rang clear from her seat near Roderich and soon the Canadian girl wondered how she expertly hit Gilbert in the head with her eyes closed.

The albino huffed and resumed eating and talking about whatever he was talking before as he normally did, though he didn't miss the small and relieved sighs three other nations let out once the whole 'Quebec' matter had been dropped.

Things progressed smoothly. Elizaveta and Roderich were talking in between bites of food at the end of the table, across from each other and too caught up in their own conversation to notice that of others. To Elizaveta's right was an empty seat that stood between her and Kiku. The seat had a plate full of oriental food similar to the Japanese man's and had a glass of an unknown content not belonging to the hotel, since the glass looked different from the other ones with its colorful decorations. Across from the empty seat was Antonio with his ever-present smile on as he talked lividly with Lovino, who sat on his left. The foul-tempered Italian seemed quite calm, but it was noticeable that he was trying no to yell out at Antonio, who poked his cheek while making a comment about how he looked like a stuffed pancake with his blush. Feliciano was on his brother's other side, across from Ludwig and diagonally from Kiku and Gilbert. He was chatting away while making grand hand motions. Ludwig would warn him every now and then about not spilling any food off his fork, which he waved around as he talked. Whenever Ludwig and Kiku would make small talk, Gilbert and Feliciano would be discussing anything and everything, and despite Gilbert's previous warnings, the joyous Italian would be kind enough to include Madeline in some conversations, asking for her opinion on some matters. Now that she used a full bottle of syrup and had eaten over half her stack of breakfast in peace, Madeline was in a much calmer and nicer mood, and would join in the small talk every now and then.

It felt weird. When she was a boy, _he_ never talked much during breaks at the meetings. Not that many nations even noticed he was there in the conversations to begin with. More often than not, Matthew would order room service and stay in his room along with Kumajirou while he organized whatever notes he took that day. If he decided to eat with the others, more often than not, he'd be dragged by Alfred to eat with him at whatever table the superpower sat and would promptly be ignored for the rest of the meal. If Alfred was busy, Francis would make himself responsible of making sure Matthew was surrounded by people, especially ladies since 'he was so shy' (his papa's words, not his own), which would lead to Francis using every line in the book to gain as many bed-mates as he could that night…or day, depending on his schedule… meaning Matthew would fade to the background again. And England… well, he usually confused him with Alfred and just shared a small greeting before walking away when he realized his mistake, but the way he would shout out for 'America to stop and turn around' would certainly not help his situation with other nations that had heard. Only on the small chance he got pulled away by Gilbert first or got the chance to chat with Katyusha (and Ivan by addition, which would coincidentally keep Alfred away due to the animosity between the two), would Matthew be included in at _least _a two-way conversation during his breaks.

But now that_ she_ was a fresh face, getting in a conversation was easier than ever. Did her familial ties really contribute to her former invisibility..?

Madeline gave a barely audible sigh. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was… As odd as it sounded, back when she was a boy, her family seemed to be the reason why she never really socialized during breaks with other nations. Not to mention that the world meetings were the only chances during the year when a nation could build personal ties with others outside of wars or natural disasters or the sort… If being around new nations meant being outshined by her family, the obviously, it'd be quite easy to overlook Canada and make him seem like a plain person with nothing to distinguish him from others. Add the fact that _Matthew _and _Alfred_ looked eeringly similar, and you have the whole equation of an invisible and overlooked nati—

Canada fiercely shook her head, slightly loosening her hair from the bands. Surely she was over thinking everything. It was _her family_ she was thinking about, after all. As much as they failed when it came to showing they cared, they _did _nonetheless, and wouldn't want her to be overlooked or ignored most of the time. She felt silly for even thinking, no, for even _considering_ thinking that her family might be the reason she was so easily ignored as a boy. It was preposterous.

"Ve, is something wrong, Maddie?"

The blonde looked to Feliciano to see that he was looking at her with honest concern. She felt kind of bad for worrying him, and gave him a small smile. She didn't even mind that he called her by the nickname she hated.

"I'm fine, Italy. Sorry for worrying you…"

The redhead's eyes lit up and he instantly smiled back, "No problem! I was just worried about a cute _signora_ like you looking so sad!" Italy grasped both of the girl's had gently and shook them in a manor not unlike a greeting, "And you don't have to call me Italy! Feliciano or Feli is just fine!"

Gilbert, who was talking with Feliciano until he worried about Madeline, had taken a moment to take in his friend's looks. She looked tired, though not as irritable as when she first sat down. He knew from experience that whenever Canada had a tough time, she would drown her pancakes in syrup. Only when she was _really_ down would she use two bottles, like when her family forgot her birthday or the likes. In respect to not burying his nose where it didn't belong, he had suggested to the others to not bother her. Luckily, Feli had a talent for getting on people's good sides and Birdie seemed much better than before, if only by a little.

Kiku had also overheard the other two talking and spoke up, "Are you sure you are feeling well, Maddie-chan? You look a bit paler…" Those were the wrong words to use around Feliciano, as he started fretting about the girl immediately afterwards.

"V-Ve! Are you s-sick? You don't have a cold or something, right? !"

The blonde just brought a hand to brush some bangs that had also broken loose from her hairpins out of her eyes and smiled again. "I'm fine, really. It's nothing."

Prussia didn't buy it. He knew Canada long enough to know that she didn't get pale over 'nothing'. Heck, Matthew could have a hangover bigger than Ukraine's track of lands while dealing with a sudden economical crisis and still have time to make it to a meeting on time _without_ looking pale or ragged. No, if she looked physically wrong, it usually had to do with something more complex. The other day she looked tired and pale because she was dealing with the transformation details, but he doubted that was what she was fretting over. He didn't speak out his thoughts, though. If she had something big bothering her, it didn't deserve to be dragged out in front of outsiders. Maybe he would make a mental note to ask her about it later.

Not that he was worried or anything. That was something friends normally did for each other, right? They heard each other's problems and shit? He felt like a pansy just thinking about it, but he guessed the kid was awesome enough for him to do something that would be seen as unnatural.

He kept shut and continued eating.

* * *

"Kiiikuuu~!"

All heads at the table shot up at the new voice. They watched as Taiwan ran to their table. The Asian girl threw herself at Kiku and gave him a small hug before sitting down on the empty chair next to him. She smiled widely and took a small sip of the decorated glass before she started talking spiritedly to everyone.

"You should've come! America was freaking out saying that terrorists were trying to attack the hotel, but England said that it didn't make sense because it was only the elevators that kept getting broken and then they started fighting before France started bothering them for no reason. It was really entertaining!" She turned and gave Elizaveta a small phone she had been grasping tightly, "I took pictures of when France tried another invasion! It's Michelle's phone, though, so don't tell her I took it."

"Mei-chan! You can't take other's phone without permission!" Kiku had a bright blush thinking about how his sister was getting his interest in yaoi but with Yong Soo's level of enthusiasm.

Roderich gave a slight cough to gain the pair's attention, "I'm sure you didn't mean to leave out the picture taking as well, didn't you?"

Hungary flashed Taiwan a thumbs up. "Nice job, Mei!" She didn't seem concerned with disproving Austria's rhetorical question.

All throughout the scene, all Canada could think was _'the hell?'._

"Hey, what you doing here, little dude?"

'_That voice…'_ Madeline turned around and, sure enough, approaching the table were America, England, France and Seychelles. England seemed to be putting on the last buttons on his green jacket while grumbling something under his breath as France followed closely behind, a smug look on his face, no doubt because of the aforementioned ' invasion', though Canada was sure it couldn't have gone far if Seychelles was nearby. And judging from the way she kept glancing from one man to the other while standing between them, they didn't. America had his bomber jacket folded under his arm and most of his dress shirt unbuttoned as his tie hung off his shoulders. He had his usually goofy smile on that showed he didn't feel uncomfortable at all about the way he was presently (un)dressed.

It was only after Alfred sat down beside her that Madeline noticed his former statement was directed at her.

Well. Her morning just got slightly more interesting. Again.

* * *

**A/n: **I wanted this out earlier, but I had a three-day vacation this weekend, and I returned this Tuesday completely tired, and started today…or…yesterday..? This week's Wednesday. And hey, Canada day is very close! This Friday, as a matter of fact, and America day is just three days later~! Oh! And I ate Maple Syrup for the first time ever, and it _does_ taste awesome on sausages and bacon! –is proud-

_Niñita_ is little girl in Spanish.

I know nothing of how Taiwan acts.

_Lithuania's Marukaite Chikyuu_ is incredibly fun! I find myself so happy when I hear it, though Liet is hardly one of my favorite characters to read or write**. Give it a listen** and see if you agree with me. I just love it for some reason~! I feel like dancing along with it! You should **also listen to **_Austria's_, since it's simply beautiful. Though you might fall asleep from the nice melody…I know I do….

Next week I'm going on vacation (again, I know) and might not be able to upload for a while. I'm sorry! -bows- I _might_ be able to update before… Here's hoping!

**Still! Review please!**


	13. Slip

Unexpected Changes

Chapter thirteen: Slip

**A/N:** …

-cough, cough-

**Warnings**: Uhh…I wrote this while both high on cold medicine and angry at the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial, so if anything seems exceptionally weird, blame my emotions…

**Disclaimer: According to the credits after the episodes, I'm not even remotely close to owning Hetalia –sad face- But I hope you'll -cough- still like this late chapter! **

**o0XXX0o**

-Recap-

It's the last conference day and Madeline can't wait for it to be over so she and Arthur can look for a counter-potion inside the Brit's home in England. She just wonders if it's even possible for a good day to go wrong so fast…

**o0XXX0o**

Madeline couldn't remember the last time a day had been changed so drastically for her. Well, the day she got incredibly high and declared to be 'the emperor of the banana boat' and Lars accidentally posted the video of her saying so on Facebook didn't count. Aside from that _one time, _a day hadn't changed from great to awful in the small span of forty-five minutes.

She wondered if the world truly hated her that much.

After Taiwan ran back to the table, America, England, Seychelles and France followed closely behind. The American had seemed honestly surprised that 'Quebec' had decided to sit with them, and took his seat: the empty on to Canada's left that had the ridiculously big amount of food on its plate.

When England approached and noticed the girl's presence, he sent a small nod of recognition her way before meeting a certain trio's gaze. A silent message passed between all four of them saying that they needed to be careful of whatever was said. Madeline didn't join in on the stares since she was too busy burning holes into her stack of pancakes and avoiding eye-contact with probably the most suspicious person of her in the entire world.

France had merely raised an eyebrow at the new person before sitting diagonally from America's seat. He thought of giving a flirtatious greeting to the woman, but quickly choose against it, fully knowing that he was already on Seychelles' angry list for his earlier ' show of affection'. Said island nation had simply given Canada a smile—though it went unnoticed—as she sat across France and besides America. England took the empty space next to Prussia, which meant he also sat next to the wine-aficionado, much to the Englishman's chagrin and the other's amusement.

Unknown to the others, the small, blonde girl could feel her heart about to leap out of her throat. She wasn't sure how those around her didn't hear the heartbeats, they felt deafening! In a single table sat the people that knew Matthew the most, some completely oblivious to the happenings of only five days ago, eating and talking freely, and that was a _very_ bad thing under the current circumstances. On the off chance that Francis or Alfred found out Madeline's secret…well, she was sure she would cry in frustration. Anyone would if their mission failed within sights of the goal. If any of the two found out, word would get out _fast_, and she didn't want anyone to know she, quite literally, had her man-card revoked. Surely her dear brother and beloved papa would be terrible at keeping such a thing under wraps, whether they blurted it out intentionally or not wouldn't matter. Not to mention, she wasn't sure if Natalya caught a glimpse of her that morning with Ivan, but if she did, she was quite sure she got on the Belarusian's death list. If Belarus found out, she might hunt down Canada _and_ Matthew Williams for the rest of existence! It would be _extremely_ nice if she didn't have to worry about her life when she went to sleep that night. So far, no one had tried to stab her as she slept. She wanted it to stay that way.

So for the sake of not being disclosed, she'd have to wing it.

Nothing new…

**o0XXX0o**

Well this was quite the abnormal morning. The first thing Alfred heard when he was woken at three in the morning –_way_ earlier than he thought was humanly _possible_- was the loud ringing of his room phone, only to hear the voice of his boss, to his surprise.

Apparently, he had _somehow_ received news of an elevator breaking the midnight prior, and he had been worried that any foreign nation had been hurt in the process while inside the United States. Before asking if had been bugged _again_ – seriously Vietnam didn't even hate him as much anymore, he would be _fine _if left alone with other nations—Alfred promised he would take care of the matter personally. Then slept for an extra hour after he hung up.

When the American got dressed and went to the Lobby to get some answers, still quite tired and unfocused mind you, he learned that not much after midnight, a room occupant on floor 32 heard a loud noise similar to metal being smashed by something heavy accompanied by low, creepy voices talking in a foreign language. A hotel employee had been sent to investigate but reported back that the only thing he found was the elevator door _torn _open and the interior completely inoperable. As if the information wasn't enough to scare Alfred more than a Friday-the-thirteenth movie night, there were no traces or hints of who or what could've done all the damage.

So the self-appointed hero did what he normally would do: he eased the other human's worries, proclaimed that everything would be fine and told them to keep up the excellent work.

He also needed to lie a bit about being an extremely handsome, government-trained, professional officer. He couldn't outright say he was a world superpower, after all. A small flash of his ID with the president's seal convinced the staff right away that he'd get to the bottom of everything.

And he totally did not shake as he said that. No way. Never. He was the U-S-of-freakin'-A! Buffalo ten times his size? Blindfolded, _in his sleep_. Rumored alien landings? _They_ went to _him_ and became loyal groupies. A war with another nation? He'd heroically save everyone by dinner. Ghosts?...

Well, nobody's perfect, right?

Point is, America was quite sure something as weird as that wouldn't happen again. 'What would be the chances' and all that. No one had been hurt, so all that would be needed was an 'out of order' sign and he'd be able to sleep for a few more hours…with the bathroom lights on. Just in case a burglar sneaked into his room and tried to attack him, then he'd have a better fighting chance. Who said he was scared of ghost? You're crazy. Shut up.

Of course, he _never_ thought another similar accident would occur four hours later.

Alfred was just minding his business, seating with Feliciano and the others because Francis wanted to be near Gilbert and Antonio (he doesn't tag along, he _leads_), when he heard what was arguably one of the loudest noises he had ever heard in his life (first being different gun and bomb explosions and second being Arthur's ranting when drunk). Moments later, Feliks tweets that _another_ elevator broke down. Since Mei mentioned that she wanted to check it out, Alfred kindly offered to accompany her, and to ease Kiku's worries of the two hyper nations going somewhere dangerous on their own, he volunteered—or dragged in layman terms—he biggest party-pooper he knew, Arthur. Francis decided to tag along with Michelle just to bother the Englishman, he could tell. He didn't mind, so long as he could check the scene with others during daylight.

His bad, he meant as long as he could help out someone in need of assistance. And Mei needed help reaching the Lobby. Who knew what could've happened if he didn't come along? She might've tripped! Or some pervert might've tried to hit on her if she was alone! And he was always more than glad to help everyone!

The place was surrounded by curious people, humans and nations alike, and the American took no breaks from investigating the scene for ghostly or otherworldly activities. Not ten minutes passed, and Arthur was moaning about how 'he discovering ghosts would be as likely as Gupta moving to the Arctic and that no ghosts were involved or by the Queen he would've noticed or he wasn't a British Gentleman'. Although the younger nation always denied the existence of anything that his former father claimed to see (unless he was more than a little tipsy, then he'd be a reluctant believer), when it came to ghosts, he always took the words as true with a grain of salt. What truly had him stumped was what made two perfectly functional elevators break down?

Then, it hit him like ice on a summer day, and it all made sense.

"Oh my gosh Artie…" he gulped and turned to the others, a truly somber look covered his eyes, "I figured it out… Its terrorists! They want to attack us nations since we're all in one spot!"

Alfred thought Arthur might've been amazed and scared into silence… until he slapped himself on the forehead hard enough to leave a red area between his monstrous eyebrows.

"For the love of…You git! Not only do normal humans _not_ know we exist, but _why_ would terrorist attack only elevators? It makes no logical sense. It must've been a simple malfunction."

Giving a small chuckle, Alfred tsk'ed and shook his head, patting the shorter nation on the shoulder, "That's exactly what they _want _you to think_,_" he ignored the way Arthur protested that there was no 'they', "This is why you live alone with no more colonies to call your own with your imaginary friends."

Francis and Michelle took this opportunity to pull Arthur away from Alfred before he tried any strangling. Not that the younger blonde even noticed, since he was distracted by Feliks commenting the information on his tweet and by his inability to feel British Rage.

"Both of you are uncivilized barbarians!" Francis commented, his hands taking the opportunity that the body they held was too angry to notice any ulterior motives in the works,"You make poor examples for everyone! These meetings aren't about hate—they are opportunities to flood the world with endless _amour~!_"

The young girl holding Arthur's shoulders sighed, but slightly agreed, "We shouldn't try to break a record by starting a fight so early in the morn—"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY ARSE YOU BLODDY FROG! !"

"What? ! Where? !" Mei quickly stopped listening to Feliks and watched the messy tangle of limbs currently on the floor._ 'Where's my camera when I need it?' _She counted three sets of legs, but the overlapping voices made it hard for her to know exactly who else was in the crossfire between England and France, until a hand landed on her ankle and pulled her to the floor as well.

"EEK!"

"Mei! Get me out from here!"

"Michelle? Why are your legs under Francis'—"

"MEI!"

"Okay, okay!"

The Asian pulled hard on the hand that had grasped her ankle until Michelle was out form the compromising situation. By now, several people were circling the commotion, previous curiosity over the heap of broken metal overridden by the new entertainment.

"Yo dudes! What's the happs? Are Brows and Frenchy wrestling or something?"

"Yes~!" Mei answered Alfred's question with an air of bliss and happiness consuming her. Michelle wasn't as content as her friends, however. She was grasping the front end of her outfit while fighting back the first signs of tears in the corner of her eyes.

"M-my dress…"

True enough, Alfred could see that a good part of the brunette's aqua dress had been torn. When, he didn't know, but he could tell she was very upset about it. Maybe that's why he didn't expect the small little girl to tug him by the back of his bomber jacket and throw him into the 'wrestling match'.

"Gack!"

"Get in there and make them pay for ripping my dress!"

"Michelle!" Taiwan was holding the other girl's waist tightly to keep her from jumping into the fray and causing some damage of her own. She looked extremely delighted by America's predicament however, "Wow, I can't believe you actually made this better~!"

Seychelles didn't even notice Taiwan's hand slipping into her pocket to grab her camera phone.

Then things got blurry for Alfred, because all he could remember was feeling the place getting drafty, Michelle screaming at Francis about something, different body parts hitting and touching all over the place, Mei squealing in glee, Arthur cursing in a way that reminded him of Tony, and the Frenchy's perverted laugh.

Next thing he knew, his jacket and shirt were missing, Francis was sporting a handsome slap on his cheek as he grinned, Michelle was giving Arthur his shirt as he buttoned his pants and cursed, and Mei took pictures of him on the floor as he caught his breath.

Like normal, he laughed off everything he didn't get and decided to walk back to the others at the table as he buttoned his shirt.

Maybe all this was weird to every other living thing on the face of the Earth, but it was just a normal on day in his type of family.

He watched as Kiku's sister ran ahead, inexplicably happy about something, while the island girl made sure to keep the older men apart as she glared at them. Alfred saw clearly when Mei jumped her brother and sat down on her previous chair to talk after sipping her Bubble Tea. Many nearby tables and chairs weren't as full as usual; perfectly normal. If people weren't gossiping about their little show or the crash, they would take longer to descend since now only two elevators worked in the 30 plus floor hotel. It seemed bigger wasn't exactly better this time around. Well, he was glad nobody was hurt, in the very least.

It wasn't until he was a mere couple of steps away from his own seat that the blue-eyed man noticed a new person at the table. To his honest surprise, it was the new girl from two days ago! It was the second time he ever saw her during a break, since she had been supposedly busy yesterday according to rumor and he had only seen her shake the beans out of Gilbert the day before that. Personally, Jones didn't mind learning more about the mysterious province. He knew he could just Google it when he had the chance, but what fun was that? In all honesty, he asked himself how much was she like her…father?...brother, cousin?...whatever Canada was to Quebec.

Since he loved to leave an impression, he spoke loudly and clearly to her while she was still distracted by Taiwan and the others.

"Hey, what you doing here, little dude?"

He didn't find any joy in the way her eyes seemed to widen after she snapped her sights on him. Nope. Not at all, no way. Besides, people like Bruce Wayne were probably used to stares and Alfred F. Jones was a _way bigger hero_ than anyone else! It was only normal that oblivious people would be amazed by his very presence.

That, or he just looked fucking hot with just half his shirt on. He _still_ had no memory of when he took his jacket off, though…

"Hey…" Madeline shot a small and awkward smile, making a wave with her hand as Alfred sat down, "Just…y' know…having some breakfast…and hangin' around…"

'_I _really_ hope Al's lack of reading the atmosphere comes in handy…'_ Canada could only keep on smiling as America laughed and slapped her back obliviously.

**o0XXX0o**

As the current events transpired, he could already feel a steady pressure build behind his forehead. Just his luck: it wasn't nearly a quarter past nine and a heavy headache was beginning to form. As if having the Frog relieve his from his trousers wasn't annoying enough, Arthur Kirkland could just _feel_ the git was going to do _something_ that would raise his blood pressure, and he'd have to invent something on the spot to cover for Madeline along with Gilbert and the others. The only bright side he could find was that night being when he'd finally travel back home to search for a blasted antidote for Matthew and everything would be back to how it was suppose to be. What worried him most was that everything would crash and burn before the meeting even started.

Most of his magical-mishaps seemed to have that pattern…

Letting out a sigh that showed his many years, he could only hope for the best case scenario—

"So!" Alfred interrupted everybody's conversations loudly, and turned to Madeline, who looked like a deer in the headlights, "You're Mattie's province, huh? What does that make you? A sister?... or a cousin?... illegitimate child?"

Madeline really did choke on her food this time, and could only restart breathing after Feliciano kindly patted her back to help her swallow. The Canadian proceeded to slam her forehead against the table, trying to cover the enormous blush she had. Could her brother be anymore embarrassing? Normal people would ask about favorite foods or hobbies when first meeting each other, not if you were a secret love child! _'God, eat me now…'_

The way his former son was always able to get on his last nerve could've been considered almost comical. The Englishman himself didn't find anything amusing about the comment, however, and all but wanted to yell at the blonde to use some common sense. Arthur slammed his hands on the table and glared at the boy across him.

"Could you _be_ any more rude? ! A child half your human age could use more tact!"

He was quite impressed, if he said so himself. Surely no one noticed he was just buying thinking-time with a distraction, right? Well, he _hoped_ the Prussian and the others were thinking of something… all he could draw was a blank.

Deep-blue eyes frowned as they turned to look at Arthur, "Whaaat? Don't tell me _you_ aren't the least bit curious as well!" He crossed his arms and stared straight at Arthur before looking at Francis for support, "Well? Aren't you curious too, Frenchy?"

Next to Arthur, Francis laid his chin atop his intertwined fingers. He seemed to be thinking Alfred's words for a second. A small smile curled around his lips and he gave a nod. "I must admit, though he acts as raw as half your cooking _Angleterre_, Alfred makes an interesting point. I've never had a personalized city myself, so I wouldn't know, but I'm curious as to why _mon petit chou_ didn't tell his dear papa about cute, little Madeline~," He turned his smile to the blonde girl, who was now staring at him, "Not in the same, crude words as Alfred, but was _is_ the relationship between a province and it's nation?"

Heart thumping, mind running in circles, stammering slowly… Madeline couldn't think of a reasonable answer or excuse to divert the attention from her with all she was feeling. If she suddenly asked about anything else, it would be obvious that she was trying to avoid the question, and if she stayed silent, suspicious would be thrown at her before long. Sure enough, her silence for a few moments would be thought normal, Alfred _did_ make an absurd notion, but she couldn't stall forever. She could see her dad sit back down on the chair, lost on what to say as well. She could just lie and say Quebec was like a daughter to Canada, but what if someone on the table knew she was lying? Every second felt like a countdown for a bomb she had no idea how to deactivate. And she was soo close to keeping 'Quebec' a mystery forevermore; it was only less than a day until she would've been in Arthur's house after all…

"W-well…" Madeline gulped and realized that her throat was incredibly dry, "I'm…actually… I'm really his—"

"OW! What in the blazes? !"

Arthur rubbed his head where he assumed his newly acquired bump was growing and glared at the object that caused it. It was… a cellphone? He noticed all eyes were currently on him, but he was too bothered to truly care for his manners at the moment. "Who was the bloody buffoon that threw this mobile at me? !"

From the other corner of the table, Elizaveta rose and gave a small gasp, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for it to hit you!" She pointed a finger at Gilbert who was obliviously sipping at his orange juice, "I was aiming at Gil! Honest!"

Prussia promptly did a spit take and would've drenched Germany if the blonde had not moved in his chair on time. Ignoring his younger _brudder's_ glare, Gilbert looked between the two standing nations, "Me? ! What for? !"

"Oh don't act dumb now, Prussia! You know perfectly well what you were doing!" The brunette crossed her arms and glared down at the clueless albino. She almost felt bad that she was doing this. Almost.

"Uhh…" Madeline had frozen in the middle of her words. She was honestly glad a proper distraction had occurred, but she was as lost as everyone else. Besides, Elizaveta had been able to hit Gilbert in the head with a roll of bread with her _eyes closed _just a few minutes ago, did she _really_ miss Gilbert or did she hit Arthur on purpose? Thankfully, all the attention had been driven away from her.

Letting out a small grown, Gilbert rose as well from his chair and pointed an accusing finger at the other woman. "What the hell's your problem?"

"Hey!" Everyone looked at Michelle. She had jumped out of her chair and walked over to Arthur, grabbing his wrist closer to her, "Is this _my_ cellphone?"

A small hand grabbed Michelle's and pulled her away from Arthur. "Noitisn't! W-why would you think that!" Needless to say, Mei wasn't the best liar around…

"That too is my cellphone!" The tan girl stomped her foot down, not knowing she missed Arthur's own by mere centimeters, "I lost it this morning and now it's being used as a potential weapon? !"

"Now Michelle, please calm down—"

"Don't talk to me Francis! I'm still mad you ripped my dress!"

Feeling pleasantly surprised, Madeline relaxed a bit against her chair. She was sure that…whatever was occurring meant that she was in the clear. If someone wasn't being part of the discussion, they were paying rapt attention. She felt her pocket vibrate and chanced a look to her left, at Alfred's seat. Once she saw that her brother was too interested in the 'fight' before him to have sent the actual Matthew a text, she quickly took out her own cellphone to see what the message said. It was from Kiku, surprisingly. It neatly explained that provinces aren't really on a familial level with their nations as Alfred thought, and though the closest title that would describe those personifications _would_ be that of children of a single parent, since they are part of a larger picture, they prefer to be considered their own selves. That sort of explanation reminded Canada of Peter's relationship with Arthur. In a way, if Sealand existed and wasn't his 'own nation', his situation would be similar to 'Quebec's' or that of Japan's cities.

The violet-eyed nation looked in the Japanese man's direction and saw him tug at Elizaveta's sleeve. The two interchanged nods and Madeline saw as the Hungarian gave her a small wink. It all made sense to her now.

'Of course! The reason why Elizaveta missed Gilbert was because she didn't! Well, she missed, but she planned to hit Arthur all along! By hitting dad out of nowhere when she was supposedly aiming at Gilbert, the three created a diversion, even if two of them had no idea! Add that the object thrown was Michelle's missing cellphone, and everyone's distracted enough to forget Francis' question, giving Kiku a chance to also send me that text in case they decide to ask again!' Madeline couldn't help but shake her head a little and smile. Those two… they planned al that on the small space that Francis was thinking. She was utterly amazed by the kind of teamwork Elizaveta and Kiku had. Guess they spend so much time together in their weird hobby that they can read the other like open books. She _did_ feel a bit bad that Arthur and Gilbert had no idea of what was really going on, but she figured it was for the best at the time.

Kiku rose from his seat as well and walked over to his sister's side, "Let's sit back down, Mei-chan."

"B-b-but! But! Kikuuu!" Mei could certainly milk a pout, and she was doing her best to convince Kiku from pulling her away, "That phone! The _pictures_!"

"Let it go, Mei-chan…" The brunette gave a smile of relief when his sister gave up and dragged her feet over to her seat.

Seychelles snatched her phone from England's hand rather rudely and stuck her nose in the air as she walked over to her seat besides America. "Hump! Men!"

After standing still for a few moments and wondering just _what the hell happened_, Arthur just sat back down and decided he might as well try to finish his breakfast in peace. _'It's not even time to start the conference and fights have already broken out… Bloody hell…'_

'_Well…'_ he glanced to Madeline's seat beside Alfred and failed to notice his lips curl slightly, _'At least we're in the clear for now.'_

**o0XXX0o**

"…But it was supposed to be the other part, so Doitsu got angry and made me spit out the bomb… Ve! But I know which part's the pin now!"

Canada gave a small chuckle at the bubbly Italian's anecdote. His mood was so infectious! She couldn't help but enjoy his stories, as wild and unpredictable as they were. "Oh, I'm glad! It'd be dangerous if you didn't remember again, Feliciano."

He cheerily nodded, "After Doitsu told me it'd be impossible to eat food again if I bit the bomb when it blew, it wasn't hard to remember anymore! Weird, right?"

"Kesese! You are too cute sometimes, Feli!" Gilbert added in. After gulping down some more juice, he turned to Antonio, "Hey Toni! Didn't your little sidekick have the same problem or something?"

Lovino had no problem hearing the red-eyed man's question (it'd be hard to, he was closer to Gilbert himself than Antonio, after all) and shot him a dark glare, "What's it to you? That's none of your goddamned bussine—"

Spain's laughter cut him off. "Yeah! Lovino usually throws away the pin by accident all the time! Then he get's all red and starts screaming when he notices! It's so cute, fusososo~…"

Romano grabbed the back of Spain's chair and pulled it backwards until it was topped backwards and hit the floor along with the Spaniard's body. Gilbert couldn't help but laugh his ass off when he watched, and continued to do so even as Antonio stood on wobbly feet and sat back down after he fixed his chair. "Why did you do that, Lovi? It's true, but you didn't confuse them after I told you to imagine the red part of the bomb wasn't a tomato!"

Violet-eyes could only blink in confusion, _'Spain can't really read the atmosphere either, can't he..?'_ Madeline could see Lovino get slightly red from anger. Or maybe it was from embarrassment. Perhaps both..?

"Shut up or I'll rip you a new one!"

"Oh!" Madeline clasped her hand together, suddenly remembering something she had wanted to do at the sound of the word 'rip'. She got up and went to the buffet table again, grabbing random foods and placing them atop a plate. She returned and sat back down, placed the newest plate to the side and continued finishing her pancakes. As she ate her last one, she failed to notice the curious look Gilbert sent her way.

"Are you gonna eat _all _that, Birdie? You ate fifteen, freaking pancakes already."

"Hm?" Gilbert did _not_ find the way she looked at him, fork still in her mouth and eyes open in surprise at being talked to, cute. That'd be weird, because Canada was, in all truth, a guy even if it didn't look that way on the outside, and finding guys beside Feli cute was plain bizarre, wasn't it? Yeah, it was. So there was no way Madeline looked cute, end of story.

She shrugged her shoulders, "Oh, it's not for me. I'm gonna take it up to someone when I'm done, that's all."

Arthur, who had been listening to the whole exchange, spoke up at this. "Really? For who is it, may I ask? Were they too busy to come down?"

At that, Madeline couldn't help but shudder a little. She got a flashback of earlier that morning. "You…could say that…"

"Aw, that's so nice! It's only her third day here and she's already being nice with other people!" Alfred patted her on the back (a bit too hard for her liking), glad the new girl was so friendly. "So, who is it?"

Smiling a bit, Canada finished the last bite of her pancakes. "It's Ivan."

"What? !" Gilbert slammed his hands down on the table, staring hard at Madeline. How could she even _think_ of being friendly with that…that…guy! Did she even know where his room was? And why this all of a sudden? "W-wait a sec… _Ivan_?" Madeline nodded, not really bothered by Gilbert's outrageous reaction. "Since_ when_ are you on a first-name-basis with the guy?"

Pouting a little and narrowing her eyes by a tiny fraction, the blonde girl wondered why Gilbert seemed so bothered by the whole thing. Sure Gil and Ivan weren't exactly the best of friends, and they might've been on bad terms because of the time Russia got its hand on Prussia, but was Gilbert still so cranky over that? So Russia made him dress up in embarrassing clothing as he had to do everyone's chores (news of that traveled _extremely_ fast…). Couldn't he let bygones alone? "Since this morning. We got on the same elevator… until it broke, anyways…"

The last part of the sentence was merely whispered and added as an after-thought, but Alfred caught it nice and clear, and couldn't help but loudly ask the girl for confirmation. "Wait, _you_ and the _Ruski_ were on the elevator _when_ it broke down?"

"Huh? Really?" Mei had cut short her talk with Kiku as soon as she heard the words. She was just as curious as Feliks about the whole event, after all.

Now everyone on the table was looking at the conversation with piqued curiosities. Madeline cursed her luck once again in her mind.

"Oh gosh. For rea—are you all right, Madeline? You weren't hurt, were you?" asked Elizaveta. She was gripping the edge of the table, ready to check the girl herself if the need arose. She eased up when Madeline shook her head.

"I'm fine. The elevator's cables broke after we…" she stopped to pick an adequate word. 'Walked' wasn't quite right, since it was more like an 'escape' or sorts… "…got… out. And Ivan had more important things to worry about besides breakfast, so I thought I'd drop by his room with a plate—"

"Like hell you are." Gilbert crossed his arms, still quite pissed. "Tough luck, he can order room service. The whole fucking elevator broke when he was in it with you, he just shouts bad luck. Stay away."

It wasn't a suggestion.

That's what pushed Canada's buttons the most.

"Dear _Gilbert_," she made sure he heard the irritation she felt at the moment, "I believe I can do whatever the hell I want, don't you think?" Although she preferred to avoid most conflicts not involving hockey matches, she didn't like the way Gilbert seemed to think he could have his way with whatever he wanted, just because his pride had been greatly hurt all those years ago and had a bone to pick with Ivan. At least he hadn't been tortured or worse, which was quite normal for nations near times of wars. Couldn't he see the bright side to things? Besides, she was an independent nation; she could socialize with whoever the hell she wanted. It was just a breakfast plate, after all.

"Really, now?" Like hell he was backing up. Prussia was years older than Canada and had been through more wars and battles than the kid could imagine. He knew the Russian was bad news, so she should exercise caution. Simple as that. Besides, if he said something, it was instantly declared awesome and should be taken as the most important thing ever. "Cause it looks like you're about to do something stupid."

Everyone else kept quiet as the two exchanged words. Nothing had been screamed out, and no foul words had been said yet, but you could clearly feel the tension between the two. Most were worried that a screaming match might start soon, and others couldn't really feel the change in the atmosphere, but were too caught in the drama to really be thinking about interfering or interrupting. Arthur was starting to slightly worry. This _was_ Gilbert, and he knew Matthew could say some really nasty things if irritated enough. More than twice he had been called by someone to try and stop one of the lad's infamous rants. When it came down to it, both nations were incredibly stubborn people…

"Oh you would know _all_ about that, wouldn't you? Well, thank you, but I'd appreciate if you kept your 'advice' to yourself."

"Maybe I should, but then you would get in even more trouble than you are right now."

Canada couldn't help it. Her anger was slowly starting to build, but she didn't notice. All she wanted was to shut up the Prussian and wipe the arrogant smirk off his face. She stood up and placed her hands on the table as she stared down at the other, "And just _what_ is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gilbert also rose. He too was getting slowly more irritated, but hell if he'd give the kid the satisfaction of knowing that. "Obviously you thought you knew what you were doing _before_, but now look at all the trouble you're going through. I'm sure _it_ looked like a good idea at the time, but now you wish you hadn't even gone, right? Admit it; you don't always know what's best for you."

Michelle tugged on Alfred's shirt a little to get his attention and whispered in his ear, "Are they talking about the elevator and the crash or something? I'm starting to get a little confused…"

Alfred shrugged, not quite getting what Gilbert said either, and whispered back. "I think. I mean, what else could they be talking about but that, right?"

Only three people entirely knew what Gilbert meant: the albino, the blonde girl, and the one responsible of the 'trouble' mentioned, Arthur. Emerald eyes had widened a bit, surprised Gilbert would talk about such a sensitive subject before others, even if he was avoiding letting anything big slip. Sure, you could never know what to expect with the brash man, but even this was like driving without brakes. A small slip and Matthew's secret would be out. He was starting to get worried of where this argument was headed, but for the life of him, he didn't know what he could do to stop it.

"Why you…" the Canadian gripped the bottom edge of her shirt just so she was sure she wouldn't try to grab something and throw it at Gilbert. Like she could help being turned into a girl! He was taking the whole thing and pointing fingers as he pleased! It wasn't her fault that she went to the bar, it wasn't her fault she was easily mistakable for Alfred, it wasn't her fault Arthur got drunk, and it wasn't like Arthur himself planned for this whole disaster. Who was he to…to…Argh! Gosh, he was being so _annoying!_ "It was an _accident_! How could _I_, or _anyone else_ for that manner, have known that it would happen? !"

"That's not the point. You got in trouble without any warning, and now that I'm giving you one, you won't take it? "

"Gilbert, it's just a plate of food. Do you even _hear_ yourself? I'd be back in a flash. What could _possibly _happen?"

"Well, I think that's enough for now! Let's just sit down and continue eating—" He ignored the hardly heard 'boo!' Alfred shot at him. Arthur decided he might as well _try_ to calm down the two nations. The more they went on, the more irritated they got. At this rate, it wouldn't be long until the two started World War III.

"Hmp." The albino grumbled under his breath, "Yeah, I'll sit down. I just wish _someone_ else could listen to reason."

Madeline would have none of it, however, and pointed at Gilbert. "If you've got something to say, say it to my face! It's rude to talk like I'm not here!"

Gilbert glared back. Just _what_ would it take to pierce her thick skull? Did she think he wouldn't fight back because she was a girl now or something? He didn't care about that shit, he was trying to stop her from walking to a lion's den with a steak attached to her arm. Before he could even register it, he was already throwing back a harsh remark. "As if people could notice the difference!"

Silence.

More likely than not, most of the people on the table wouldn't find anything remarkable about that statement. Only Japan, Hungary and Arthur would see the true intention behind the words. Only they could see how hard Gilbert had swung with his words. And only Canada could feel how much the low blow hurt.

Without a single word, Madeline stood straight, grabbed the plate full of food she had made a mere few minutes ago, and walked away.

As she ignored her earlier promise to take the stairs and boarded the thankfully empty elevator towards the thirty-second floor, she leaned against one of the walls and clutched the plate harder with her slightly trembling hands.

Her eyes didn't itch or burn. She didn't want to lower her standards enough to throw a punch at the Prussian. She didn't want to go to her room and stay there until the meeting ended and she could finally leave for Europe. The statement hadn't fazed her at all. She didn't let any tears fall.

When Madeline felt something leave a wet trail down her cheek, she admitted she was lying to herself.

**o0XXX0o**

The silence that hung over the table was only broken when Hungary excused herself by saying she would check on the blonde woman. The rest of the table couldn't figure why Madeline would leave in such a manor. They had known the girl for hardly more than a day, after all. Gilbert slumped down on his chair and ran a hand through his hair, grabbing tightly at some strands. He knew he overstepped the limit with his comment, and instantly regretted it the moment it slipped his lips. He knew how much being noticed was a sensitive subject to Canada, but he used that ammo and hurt his friend. That is, if the girl even wanted to stay his friend after all he said to her. He could feel Arthur's eyes on him, and wondered if the man was too shocked to talk or if he didn't want to blow up in front of others and let anything slip. He knew others were also looking at him from time to time, but didn't dare ask their questions at the moment. The place was far from quiet; there were other people in the breakfast restaurant talking and going about their daily routines, oblivious of the fight that just occurred, and his own table already carried the voices of Mei and Feliciano trying to break the awkwardness that had fallen upon them.

When Gilbert finally heard something from Arthur, it was a heavy sigh.

"That certainly was…unexpected…" Arthur murmured out, knowing the man beside him could hear his words perfectly. "I know you're…touchy concerning Ivan, but I also think you could place a bit more of trust on Matthew's intuition. There's a reason why the lad is still independent, even if he's caring to a fault at times."

Gilbert excused himself form the table with a grunt and decided to walk around, not exactly feeling like lying on his bed where West could follow and pester him with questions later. He always did his best thinking when he wasn't in a crowded area anyways.

Maybe Russia wasn't as bad as he used to be, but Canada hadn't been there when things were worst. Those years ago, well before the World Wars, Europe wasn't one of the best places to be. Sure everyone had a dark past, but nations fought hard and persevered through with only the physical marks and history books as proof. Yet, Gilbert always feared Ivan was one of those few nations that hadn't escaped without some sort of psychological scar, and he saw enough of that dark side when under Russian rule. Sure, Ukraine and Belarus were always nearby and the Russian wouldn't harm a fly in their presence, but now? Prussia wasn't sure. He fucking didn't know, and that scared him.

There, he admitted it to himself. He was scared. He was scared because it was Canada, one of his closest friends. Sweet and nice Canada who tended to be too caring and people could take advantage of that. She didn't know the kind of things Russia could say or do to get what he wanted, and what was better than a 'clueless and naïve new personification' to him? A few sweet words here and a not-so-nice intention there and she would be 'one with Russia' whether she wanted to or not.

Of course, Gilbert was too brash and too prideful to say something like that, so he just acted like an ass and said something he shouldn't had.

"Dammit. I really have a talent for fucking things up, huh…"

**o0XXX0o**

**A/n: **Um… -cough, cough-…sorry?

**No recommendations this time**, only two notes. First: Alerts and why you shouldn't with me. Second: a note about this fanfiction. You can skip if you want (well, after a much-appreciated review :D I'm sure they would make this sickness more bearable~!)

_**First**_. I'm glad a lot of you like to Arthur-alert me, but it'd be better not to. If you're worried for a Hetalia story I may post, rest assured, I'll give a shout out here, but if you're not interested in other animes or themes, then it's a sorta-bad idea. I tend to write for many different things and you might find updates of non-hetalia related themes from time to time. If this doesn't bother you, then go ahead by all means. If that _does_ bother you, then just alert this story! That's all~!

_**Second**_: This story won't be entirely cannon. Frankly, I think that'd be impossible at my level of writing. There are some things that don't make sense, such as Alfred and Matthew being twins, but Matthew probably being older because of the Vikings, and I apologize for any plot-holes you see. But this is the history of the world we're talking about here. Two years ago, if I didn't fall asleep during history class, it was a miracle. More than likely, you'll find things that will look like Brain Farts, and I apologize in advance. Also, I'm not too talented at writing people, so many characters _WILL be OOC_. Sometimes I might make them be like that on purpose. I'm sorry if this bothers you, I just like to experiment from time to time. What else..? Oh, humor isn't a strong suit of mine, and it won't be in every chapter. I usually throw it in to advert eyes from any fail I might throw in :P. Also, the previous chapter I showed Canada thinking about the reason why she _might_ be overlooked often as a boy. I needed to bullsh*t with something so she would be noticed as a girl, but not as a boy. That's all I could think of at the moment OTL. Sorry if it kinda pissed someone! It's just fail!logic at it's best!

I'm worried this will reach 100 reviews…I'm not confident enough to offer a one-shot to whoever ends up being #100, but I guess it's only fair, it _would_ be my first 100th review…

**My next update** **might be after the 23rd.** If you guys haven't noticed, I'm coughing all over the place and have been sick for over a week. Also, I wanna have a stress-free birthday, and might not post until after it. This is speculation. If I get miraculously better, I'll start writing. No promises, though.

Thank you for reading! Review and have a Happy Summer!


	14. Waiting for the day when

Unexpected Changes

Chapter fourteen: Waiting for the day when…

**AN**: OH MY GOD! This reached **100 reviews**! :D I almost cried when I found out. That was such an awesome birthday present from all of you to me, so **Thank you, every single reviewer for this story,** whether logged in or anonymous. I would _never _have made it this far without you guys!

Also, I got a brand new laptop for my birthday, the 23rd~! :DD This means that I get to type whenever I want, since I won't be fighting for comp-time with other family members! How sweet is that? Let's get this show on the road!

**Warnings: Damn, damn, damn it, damn! I shouldn't have read **_**Giving In**_** before writing this chapter…sorry, guys… SEVERE OOC-ness! Also language, girly bonding, small Gilbert-bashing, creepy relatives, pretty mild chapter. Remember I tend to change Matthew's name when around other characters!**

**Disclaimer: I don't even **_**want **_**to own Hetalia right now~! I'm too hyped about my reviews and birthday present!**

* * *

-Recap-

After finding out Matthew got a close encounter with death while in an elevator with Ivan, Gilbert lets his emotions get the best of him and says some hurtful words in the heat of the moment. As Matthew storms away, only those closest to her at the moment realize how upset she is. Gilbert admits his error to himself, but will he plan to admit it to Matthew as well?

* * *

'_It's the same as mine. Guess I shouldn't have expected anything else…'_

Canada stepped off one of the only remaining elevators in the hotel and looked around her. Her present hotel room was located in floor 29, but she stuck to her previous plans and stopped by floor 32 to pay certain someone a well-natured visit.

At least…she hoped it was the 32nd floor…

She had gathered her composure decided she would go ahead and deliver the plate of food she prepared for Russia earlier. Remembering the time she spent before she met up with the Russian – and the 'ride' afterwards unfortunately—she faintly recalled that the lights showing the elevator's location lit up on floor 32 for a while before moving to her own. If her hunch was correct, that meant Russia got on that floor, since Ivan was the only one currently inside it when she herself boarded.

She plainly ignored the possibility Belarus might've somehow boarded around that time as well. She _still _had no idea the woman was on the outside of the elevator when there was _nothing there_ for her to hold on to. The power of an obsessive girl in love…

So, Matthew's best bet was that Ivan's room was on the floor she was currently in. The possibility that the stop on the 32nd floor was some other nation hiding in the sidelines much like Iceland had done so that morning was a big possibility, but it was all she had to go on. She was _not_ knocking on every door on all the floors above her.

The blonde looked around, not sparing more than half a second at all the identical doors she passed by. She could feel her hopes dampen again. Just how was she going to find the correct room? Maybe she should just give up and turn back—

"Oof!"

"Oh, my bad! I wasn't paying attention, young miss."

Canada felt herself steady by two firm arms holding her own. As soon as she was sure she hadn't spilled any food to the floor, she gave a relieved sigh and locked eyes with who she bumped into. To her surprise, it was Toris Laurinaitis. The brunette looked quite apologetic, and let her arms free when he was assured Madeline was fine.

"It's okay; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, either. I hope I didn't hurt you or anything…"

Toris smiled and shook his head. "I should be the one asking you that, but I'm glad you aren't hurt either. You're…Madeline, was it?"

Nodding, she pushed away the small voice telling her she was getting too used to the new name. "And you're Liet, was it?"

Now Madeline knew perfectly well that wasn't Lithuania's name, but she pretended not too much about every nation she came across, and one thing she remembered perfectly from yesterday's meeting was Poland calling his nickname loudly from one end of the table when the conference room fell into chaos and disorder once more; she figured it would be better to call him by the only thing 'Quebec' had a chance to hear him be called.

"Umm, not exactly… That's a fond nickname my best friend has for me…" he extended his hand for the other to shake in formal greeting, "I'm Lithuania, Toris Laurinaitis."

"Nice to meet you." Madeline had a sudden idea struck her as they introduced, "Um, by any chance, do you know if Iv—Russia's room is located on this floor?"

Toris was surprised at the blonde's question, though he stumbled out an answer nonetheless, "Mr. Russia's…y-yeah, it's room 3218, down the hall, but may I ask how you know him?"

Not minding Toris' anxiousness, the other smiled as she answered, "Oh, we just personally met not too long ago, I'm just dropping by to say 'hi'."

"I…see…" Toris cleared his through with a small cough and wished her a nice day as they parted. Normally, he'd be worried of a new personification going near Ivan at any odd hour of the day, but he'd let it slide this time. Not only wasn't Quebec a nation, but he had seen the Russian sneak out of his room to eat quite a while ago when he went back to his room to grab something, meaning the room had to be empty. Ivan himself had asked if Toris had seen Natalya around before he left for the elevators.

Speaking of which…he recently had found out both near the northern end of the hallway were out of order although he had seen Ivan himself get on one as he sneaked off to eat. When did that happen?...

No matter. He was late for meeting up with Feliks and the others. He already had both a tweet and a text from him on his cellphone saying _'You need to hear what happened, like, NOW'_. Shrugging, he walked to the south end of the hallway.

* * *

As soon as she reached the room, Madeline couldn't help but smile a little. Meeting up with Lithuania had been a stroke of luck! Surely she never would've found the room if she hadn't crashed into the other. Madeline walked up to the cream-colored door and knocked firmly on it a few times, however, the reply she got was quite unexpected. She imagined, at worst, Ivan wouldn't be there and she'd just leave without accomplishing anything. She certainly didn't think she'd just hear Ivan's hysterical voice screaming "go away" at what seemed to be the top of his lungs. No doubt he was still shaken from being chased around by his little sister—Madeline was sure she'd still be scared had she not eaten two bottles of maple syrup—so she opted for leaving his food nearby and walking off.

"Umm, Ivan?" Hearing no new cries of despair, she pushed on, "This is Madeline. I noticed you didn't get a chance to eat with everyone, so I brought you something in case you were hungry. I'll just…leave it outside..? Okay, then."

Just as she kneeled to place the plate down, the door clicked open by a tiny fraction and icy cold air leaked out of the pitch dark room. She gazed up and could see Ivan looking in all directions before he finally decided to open the door by a fraction more. From her position near the floor, Madeline had to admit that Ivan looked really, really tall… As she stood, the two arctic nations locked gazes.

"Ah! _Madlen_! Sorry for that, I thought you might've been... Well, I decided to double check since who I thought it was tends to be more forceful."

The blonde girl knew perfectly well who Ivan was referring to. "Is that so? Well, I just stopped by for this," Madeline gave Ivan the plate of food she had been holding for the better half of fifteen minutes, glad it was finally off her hands. The tall nation looked at the contents with much surprise, whether from Madeline knowing Russian-like breakfasts, from her being kind enough to go through the trouble of getting him something, or the hotel even having _blini_ and the such when he didn't notice the earlier days, he didn't know.

"_C__пасибо__, Madlen!_" Ivan flicked on the light switch and opened the door much wider. "Would you like to enter and eat with me? It is much better to eat with company, da?"

"Oh no, I couldn't…" Madeline brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and smiled apologetically, "I wouldn't want to bother you and I already ate…"

"Oh, it'd be no problem. It's just that _Madlen_ looks sad and stressed, more so than earlier today…" There was that worried look on Russia again, and Canada honestly wondered if her emotions were that easy to read sometimes.

"Well…" she took a moment to think about it. She didn't have anywhere to be at the moment, and spending a while with someone just talking wouldn't hurt. Not to mention, where would she go now anyways? She didn't plan on returning to her room or any other place where she could see that stupid Prussian's face, at least, not for now. Oh, she had planned to meet up with him later to give him hell for being such an asshole, but she just didn't have the energy to do so at the moment. Instead of returning to her room or wander aimlessly with the slight chance of bumping into anyone she didn't feel like talking to, she might as well keep the Russian company, right? "Why not?"

* * *

"So Gilbert said something that hit close to home, then?"

"Yeah…"

Madeline and Ivan had moved to the small table and chairs by the living room area. At first, they had thought about sitting on the sofa and watching television as they talked, but both found it a hassle to move the sofa from its comfortable position upside-down against the wall… right next to said television and the bedroom mattress that were also moved from their original places. The blonde girl couldn't help but feel sorry for Ivan. She knew slightly where he was coming from, what with Alfred's 'manifest-destiny' phase, but Alfred had quit his ambitions after a while; Natalya was still going strong as the years went by. So Madeline happily agreed to move to the dining area since all other options had been used as barricades against unwanted visitors.

Soon afterwards, they had talked amiably about many subjects as Russia ate for the first time that day. Being two cold and snowy nations, they had many subjects in common they could chat about. From time to time, Canada had to watch what she would say around the other. She knew she had a tendency to get carried away with some topics, such as hockey, and her Canadian spirit would get the best of her and she could slip and say things she had mentioned to Ivan before as_ Matthew_, and bringing such topics out of the blue would disclose things she obviously wanted to keep a secret with her new identity. Nonetheless, she had a good time and even ate a little upon the Russian's insistence, since apparently 'she had given him too much'. She only had a piece of black rye bread and some black tea, though.

After they decided to stop their debate on which nations had the better hockey team lest they argue forever, Ivan finally asked what had her so bummed. She found now harm in telling him—god knew he'd probably hear about the argument from some powerful, internet source if given enough time—and explained how she and Gilbert had gotten in a heated argument (she wouldn't say it started over _him _though) and some things were said that, quite frankly, hurt.

"It was something stupid, but I still didn't expect him to say it. I honestly expected him to call me a bitch instead of insulting my nation's influence, even if he did so indirectly…" Madeline wanted to sigh, but she felt she had been doing that too much lately. She opted for just laying her head fall on the hand whose elbow was atop the table and huffing a bit. She notice Ivan chuckle a bit, though at what, she couldn't tell.

"Gilbert tends to insult a lot, da? Back under my rule, he would use the most creative curses I had ever heard from a person before."

The smile he had showed he found the memory amusing, and the Canadian found comfort in that Ivan wasn't laughing at her dilemma like she suspected in a corner of her mind. "Would he curse you out that much?"

"Ha! That, _Madlen_, is an understatement. I think he made it a hobby of his to see which insult would bother me and which wouldn't~!"

"Honestly?" a small tilting of her head, "What if an insult angered you a lot?"

"Uhh…" The Russian leaned back in his seat, trying to remember something, "I don't think that ever happened. It was funny to pretend that they did, though." He chuckled loudly at a new memory he got, "As a 'punishment for angering me' once, he had to clean the house in a maid's outfit when company was visiting."

Madeline's head slipped from her hand and she would've fallen off her chair if she hadn't gripped the table tightly. She coughed a little and wasn't sure if she was supposed to believe Ivan's words. "A-are…you for real?"

Ivan nodded, smile not gone yet, "Da! It never happened while another nation was visiting, though, so word didn't really get out. It was interesting to see my Boss' reaction to that when he dropped by one time. He started calling beforehand the next times he would visit me." Ivan was too lost in the embarrassing memories to notice the way Madeline went red and tried to keep her mouth shut with both her hands. Her shoulders shook, trying to keep her laughter unheard. "Of course, compared to his other punishment, he preferred being dressed like that much more…"

At this, Madeline's giggled stopped dead. That…sounded weird. Ivan himself had stopped smiling and looked quite troubled with what he was recalling. The blonde started to worry…had something grave happened that made him hurt Gilbert in some way or something? That seemed unlikely, since she had heard no word of such a thing happening, and Russia himself seemed unnerved by whatever he was about to say. Madeline was honestly feeling a little creeped out… "Wh…what 'other'…punishment..?"

"Well…" Russia went slightly paler, which did nothing ease Canada's train of thought, "It was after the war, da? Good guards are hard to come by at times of peace… So he'd have to stand for hours outside my door whenever I heard word that Natalya wanted to come see me…"

'…_What?'_

Madeline just stared, searching for any sign that Ivan was bluffing.

'_You mean he…' _

She knew she couldn't afford to finish her thought. If she did, she would burst out laughing.

"It's a scary job, I'll admit. Gilbert himself said he'd rather paint the house outside in sub-zero temperature than go through that again…"

Under the table, away from prying eyes, Canada was clenching her skirt as hard as she could without making it tear. She honestly wanted to run away so she could laugh in peace. It was cruel, sure, but really! Here she expected some kind of horrible torture of some kind and just to finds out that Ivan used Gilbert as a human shield between him and Natalya. Why had she never heard of that? She had been friends with Gilbert for a while now and more often than not, he tended to ramble on for hours whenever he would walk into her house hammered, and one of his favorite targets while drunk was Russia and all the embarrassing jobs he had to do for the other. Not once did something about this slip before. This was heavy blackmail material if under the wrong hands…

"That was the one time I was able to run away from сестра without her following me straight afterwards, at least. Of course, Gilbert couldn't hear small noises without flinching for a week, but…"

"Pft!"

Ivan returned from his trip down memory lane to stare at the smaller nation that was rapidly growing redder by the second. It also looked like she was covering her mouthwith her hand… "Uh…are you okay, _Madlen_?"

The Canadian raised her violet eyes to meet Ivan's as she hid the new, small bite mark on her left hand with her right one. "Yes! I'm j-just fine, thanks for asking." She accidentally bit her hand trying not to laugh about Ivan's and Gilbert's misfortunes. She knew she was getting red from keeping her giggles at bay, too. She wasn't lying, though, and truly _did _felt considerably better than the first time she stepped inside the room. Her plan to eventually confront Gilbert and let him get a piece of her mind was still going to happen, but the feeling of heavy rain inside her mind had dissipated into a harmless drizzle now. She glanced at the microwave behind Ivan and the time it displayed. Roughly half an hour had passed since she entered. The two nations sure had lost track of time chatting, didn't they? Madeline felt it was high time she finally left the Russia in peace instead of bothering him with all her problems; besides, both already finished eating a few minutes ago. She hadn't talked this much with him in quite some years, actually. Last time both sat down to just talk had been over fifty years ago, if she recalled correctly…

"I should get going now," the Canadian stood and took a moment to properly stretch her arms behind her, "I'm sorry I unloaded my problems on you. I think I've bothered you enough to last a lifetime, eh?"

Ivan stood from his seat as well; he was still confused about the girl's change of attitude, but glad she seemed in better spirits. "It was not trouble. It's not often I have breakfast with a new friend all. It was fun~."

"I don't know how I could possibly thank you. You've been nothing but nice and hospitable."

Both made their way back to the front door as they made small talk. Russia grabbed the door knob and smiled at Madeline, "It doesn't really matter…" Maybe it was Canada's imagination, but she felt a sudden chill go down her spine… A gleam she couldn't completely identify was visible in Russia's eyes as he inched the door open… "After all, soon everyone will become one with-"

"RUSSIA-CHAN! !"

A white and blue blur latched itself on Russia as he tumbled back and fell to the floor. It was quite amusing for Canada to watch, and she couldn't do anything but stand stupefied at what was happening. Either this person had an uncanny timing for entrances or they were extremely lucky the door wasn't still closed when they jumped forward.

Ivan himself was about to start hyperventilating, thinking he was caught by his younger sister again, until he saw the face of his 'attacker'. "Cестра? What's wrong?"

Madeline crouched next to the two bodies and could clearly see that it indeed was Katyusha the one that barreled headfirst into Ivan. Her short hair was a mess and her blue eyes were red from holding in tears. She kept latched to Ivan's stomach as she stuttered out her words. "Are you o-okay? Feliks twe-tweeted that you were i-inside the elevator when it f-fell! You aren't hurt, right? !"

'_Oh, so _that's_ what it is…_' the violet-eyed nation slipped a small smile, glad that Katyusha's tears weren't from something else. It looked like Ivan was thinking around the same lines because he let out a relieved sigh and sat up, pulling his older sister off as she dried her eyes with both hands.

"I'm fine, сестра. How did word of that get out so fast?"

"W-well," Katyusha sniffed some more as she calmed down, "Feliks heard from America and s-some others that found out what happened, and I saw when he posted information online…"

The blonde's eyes widened when she heard. Did news of her fight and all she said get out _that _quickly? Technology is a powerful thing…

Apparently she had voiced her thoughts, as Ukraine noticed her presence for the first time and turned to her. "Oh! Madeline, are _you _okay? Feliks said that you were trapped with Ivan as well!" Blue eyes welled with tears again at the thought of anyone being hurt gravely.

"Y-yes, I'm fine. I wouldn't have eaten with the others if I hadn't, trust me." Madeline smiled brightly, touched by her old friend's concern, "Thank you for worrying, though. That's very nice of you."

"Of course!" Katyusha stood and hugged Madeline tightly, much to the latter's surprise, "Any friend of Matvey's is a friend of mine." Katyusha blinked comically at the scene she had walked into. "Oh, were you leaving? I'm sorry for keeping you! T-take care, all right?"

"Oh, right. Good bye, _Madlen_." Both siblings wished a good day for the Canadian, and Madeline understood that they wanted a while alone to talk, probably for Ivan to assure Katyusha that he wasn't severely maimed or the likes. It always took the kind woman several assurances and body checks for her to drop an issue. That was the main reason Canada and Russia agreed not to go all out during hockey matches against each other anymore. Each time they did, Katyusha would start crying in concern over how much they got hurt on the ice.

Excusing herself from the room, the young nation thought it'd be best if she returned to her room once and for all until the meeting started. She was starting to feel a small headache and wanted to lay down in peace for a few minutes, hoping no more disasters would occur for the rest of the week, in the very least. Yeah, lying down in her soft hotel bed sounded heavenly at the moment. She walked back the same way she came, thinking deeply about Arthur and the others and if they would want to talk about her 'dramatic exit' once she saw them again. As she imagined different scenarios she almost didn't keep her attention on the way before her. Not wanting a repeat of what happened with Lithuania, she looked straight ahead. She could see a person walking in her direction, staring dead ahead with a firm gaze and not paying her an inch of attention or care. As they neared each other, Madeline could see more distinctive traits, such as long and clear hair and a flowing, navy dress.

Only when they were a mere couple of feet apart, she identified the person to be none other than Natalya Arlovskaya herself. Madeline gulped loudly, remembering their earlier meeting that day. Hopefully, the other had been too concerned with following her brother to catch a good glimpse of Madeline… If she _did_ get a look at her… Oh gosh, how would she react to another female beside her sister even _talking _to Ivan? Yao himself went through hell when Natalya thought Ivan was interested in him, and he was a guy! Madeline didn't want to get on her bad side as Quebec—she already had a grudge against Canada for having such a good relation with Russia…

She didn't give it any more thought and did her best to act completely normal when they passed by each other and hoped her expression didn't seem forced to the other. She had to fight every urge in her body to not break into a run when they finally passed each other without any incidents… She wished she had followed her instincts when a voice addressed her out of the blue.

"You."

"Eh? !" Freezing in place, Madeline could feel herself breaking into a nervous sweat. Was this karma for laughing at Gilbert's and Ivan's experiences? B-but, she already had whatever negative karma she could've gained from turning into a girl! She turned around by a small amount, just enough for each nation's eyes to meet. "Yes..?"

Natalya's eyes bore deep into Madeline's as if reading something the blonde couldn't see. After a tense silence, Natalya spoke in a bored tone, "You are that Canada guy's province, aren't you?"

"Y-y-yes…I a-am…" Madeline cursed her stutter, and wanted nothing more than go to her house back in Manitoba and curl up with Kumajirou under the bed covers.

"Hm." She turned around, platinum hair moving with the motion, and continued her walk towards what Madeline guessed to be Ivan's room. "Tell that nation of yours to keep his distance from my брат," Natalya held the now visible knife in both hands behind her, "If he knows what's good for him."

"Umm, all r-right…" The Canadian didn't dare move until the intimidating woman was far away from sight and the sound of her shoes on the carpeted floor weren't audible anymore. Only then did she allows her body to stop being as tense as a rock.

'_Was that better than being told directly..? I'm not sure…'_ Admitting she more than likely lost five hundred years off her lifespan with that scare alone, Madeline decided to attempt to ignore the disturbing encounter and continue on her way to her hotel room._ 'This time, I _will_ take the stairs…'_

* * *

_5 unread messages._

_4 missed calls._

_1 unheard voicemail._

Canada was staring intently at her phone screen as her hand was poised to slide her hotel card through the key slot in order to enter her room. She thought she had misread, but she doubted her eyes would lie to her so convincingly. In the short span that she had set her phone on silent, basically from when she ended her call with Gilbert to present time, she had more missed calls and unopened texts than she ever had in her lifetime of being a phone-carrying nation. One text was from Japan, three calls and four texts were from Hungary, and the missed call with the voicemail was from England.

With a shake of her head to clear her thoughts, she slid open her door and plopped down on the bed after kicking off her shoes. Resting comfortably over her sheet covers and pillows, she started to hear the voicemail as she loosened her hair from the ribbons. It was from Arthur, briefly asking if she was feeling up to attending the meeting and to pass by his room to pick up her suitcase when she had the opportunity. Matthew slapped her forehead when she remembered she stormed off without picking it up and was glad that her father had noticed and grabbed it for her. She had an important document inside that would be a _pain _to replace if she lost it. Also, she was glad Arthur was actually worried about her. His words might've sound confident in what they were saying, but the short and slightly weird pauses he showed here and there during his voicemail showed he was trying to find the most delicate and professional way to get his point across. The way he mumbled a quick 'take care' before hanging up made her giggle at how emotionally awkward he was sometimes.

Japan's text was quite short, asking if she and Prussia were all right, since apparently both had left in similar fashions in the middle of breakfast. At the moment, she replied a quick 'I'm fine' and sent it without much thought, ignoring the half of the text concerning the hotheaded albino. She hadn't heard a lick from him so he obviously hadn't gone off too apologize or the likes, not even a short text saying sorry, so hell if she cared. It's true! She didn't!

'…_Oh god, what the hell's _wrong_ with me? '_ Matthew sat up straight and ran both hands through her now completely untied hair. Since when had she cared if someone said something offensive to or about her? Gilbert was known for insulting everyone and everything except himself and Gilbird, so why did this time bother her so much? Maybe it was her lack of testosterone at the moment conflicting with her usual brain patterns and thoughts or something like that..? With an annoyed huff, she threw herself down again and read the remainder of the texts.

'_W-wow…'_

The girl honestly had no other words to explain the Hungarian's texts. All of them told how Elizaveta had gone to search for her, how she wasn't found, that she hadn't answered her phone and how her room had been empty from lack of responses to incessant knocking. Elizaveta honestly sounded like she was worried that someone had kidnapped her or something… also, she typed to answer ASAP lest she tear down the door for clues next time she passed by. Matthew had heard rumors about how Hungary was known to tear through rooms at a time back in the days of living with Austria whenever Italy would go missing for long periods of time (often to find the kid having siestas in the oddest places ever) and decided she didn't like the idea of the brunette making more lasting damages to the already unfortunate hotel. She sent a reply informing the brunette of her current location and perfect physical health.

Not five minutes later, Matthew's door was being knocked on by Elizaveta herself, and in what could best be described as déjà vu, Matthew was hugged tightly by her friend as soon as she opened the door. _'At least she didn't knock me over like it happened with Ivan, huh?'_

"Matthew, I was so worried! You ran off like that and I wanted to talk to you but I-"

"I know! I know, I read your texts," Matthew carefully pried herself from Elizaveta's death-grip and flashed a reassuring smile. "I had my phone on silent so I didn't hear your calls. My bad…"

The brunette shook her head, and both nations moved over to the couch near the television to talk, "No, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions myself. Here I was, thinking you might've been hurt or something…"

"…I'm not a helpless nation, y' know…" Matthew tried her best to fight down the pout she felt like showing.

The older woman giggled at that, "I do, and I should trust your own strength, but you remind me a bit of Feli and I can't seem to help myself!"

"Really?" Matthew asked, truly curious. "How so?"

"Well~," she counted off with her fingers, "You both are way too adorable, you both have been deemed cute by France and Gilbert, and both of you are so kind and remind me of children, with how much you care about others. I feel like an over-protective, older sister when I'm near the two of you!"

Matthew lowered her head a little, hair blocking her face from Elizaveta's eyes as she thought. Kind? No, she was just polite, wasn't she? She tended to be a pushover at times… and even if she offered Maple Syrup-sure to bring happiness-to those that needed it, she wouldn't consider herself to be on Feliciano's level. No, Italy was on another level all together, but to each his own, right? If Elizaveta thought she was kind… maybe there was some truth buried there somewhere..? At least, when she wasn't giving a good rant to those that deserved it.

"You're a very kind-hearted person, Elizaveta. You didn't have to help me, but you did, and I want to honestly thank you for everything."

"Mattie? You sound like we're never going to see each other again, sweetie," murmured Elizaveta as she brushed the blonde's hair out of her face, smiling kindly.

"Huh? Well… I guess since I'll be going over to Arthur's after the meeting, this'll be last time we'll talk while I'm like this if you think about it…"

"But we can still be friends, even if you're a boy next time we talk, Mattie. How you are on the outside doesn't change who you are on the inside, after all."

'_That's exactly what I mean. Elizaveta's such a kind woman!'_ Matthew laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes a little, staring straight at the ceiling. Sighing for what felt like the millionth time in only five days, she murmured to the one sitting beside her. "It's _so _draining to pretend I'm someone I'm not in front of the others… Every small thing feels like a monumental change. How could _you_ stand having your life change so drastically?..."

"Well, it wasn't easy. But then again…" even if she knew the Canadian wouldn't see it, Elizaveta shot a pitying gaze to the tired girl next to her. "…I never had to pretend I wasn't Hungary, so I can't say I know where you're coming from…"

Both nations laid peacefully on the couch, talking about senseless topics as time trickled by…

* * *

"Say…What time is it?"

"Um…" the brunette looked at her wristwatch, "A little after eleven—"

"What..? Seriously? I feel way too tired for this time in the morning." Matthew grunted and felt even more exhausted.

"The meeting's not until two. You could sleep and I'll wake you with more than enough time to prepare, if you want."

"You'd do that?" Canada's eyes practically beamed at the thought, "You're a life-saver! Thank you, Elizaveta!"

To Hungary's surprise, after a quick hug from the blond, it took less than a minute for the girl to close her eyes and fall into dreamland. The fact that she was practically sitting and using the couch as a bed didn't deter her in any way, it seemed. Hungary tried not to laugh at how peaceful the other looked, even if that position couldn't be comfortable. As if reading her thoughts, the Canadian's head tipped to the side and didn't stop until it rested practically on top of the brunette's shoulder.

'_Ha ha! How amusing!'_

Elizaveta combed some stray hairs that kept getting in the blonde's face. She thought back to earlier that morning, specifically, the fight Matthew's fight with Gilbert. She could see where the Prussian's feelings were coming from, but his words hit Matthew in a moment when she was vulnerable over everything that was happening. Imagine; Matthew was conflicted over acting as someone completely different and it seemed as if no one missed the real Canada as they all went along their normal days. Something like that would hurt anyone. It was only natural that both of their personalities would clash in such a way: Gilbert with his strong hate for Ivan, and Matthew who was naturally caring and nice.

Even if she only met the Canadian a few days ago, she felt like she made a great friend. She didn't want her to be so sad. But Gilbert was also a childhood friend of hers who she didn't want to be sad if he could help it, no matter if her own personality clashed with the Prussian's since they first met each other when they were small kids.

As the Hungarian took the sleeping nation's glasses off before they ended being a bother, she deeply hoped both her friends would be able to make up soon. Madeline could use all the friends she had, especially during tough times like these; the fact that Gilbert never had any problems seeing the young blonde was a lovely bonus. And Gilbert… he never shows it, but he really _does_ mind that he feels alone sometimes. Being a dissolved nation, the world around him keeps turning, leaving him behind. Everyone he knows either dies or move on with their lives, making new friends or unifying with other nations. The days when all he did was fight and conquer territories has long passed. It's at a time like this that he could use a person like Matthew, who wouldn't care about Prussia's blood-filled past. There was a time when Hungary thought that Italy could be the kind of friend that the albino needed, but Italy's place was besides the younger brother, not beside the older. Germany needed Italy's help to come out of his shell; a more headstrong nation like Canada could be just what Prussia would need to see that there really are people that care about him.

'_I hope the day will come when that stubborn guy will have more than just his pride keeping him company…'_

* * *

**AN**: In Soviet Russia, _breakfast_ eats_ you_! –bricked- Anyways, what Ivan says in Russian is 'thank you' and 'sister'. And the 'Russian-breakfast-like' food Madeline gets was founded off some yahoo answer thing I found, so nothing completely official.

Who can't imagine Eliza looking all over for Feli only to find him having a siesta in the garden or something? That'd be so adorable~! And it's my head canon that Eliza and Mattie would be BFFs if they met.

I want to send a 'congrats' to Sadik3000, my 100th reviewer! I'm glad, since I planned to give a oneshot to whoever was my 100th and my 101th reviewer. Since there was a repeated review many chapters ago, whoever reviewed 100th would've been 99th if that review hadn't happened, same applies for whoever would've been 101th, but since Sadik3000 reviewed continuously, that wasn't a problem this time around! ^^

I'll hopefully be able to update weekly, but I feel the beginning of writer's block creeping up on me, and that's not good…;A; Hopefully I'll be able to beat it back with a hockey stick…

**The song this time** is _Pechika-Kokoro Tomoshite _by _Russia! _It is a _cute _song~! It's adorable to hear, though the lyrics are…well, it _is _Russia after all. XD

Thanks for the get-better wishes! I'm almost cured and I'm ready to start brainstorming for the next chapter! Until next time, and remember: Reviews make my day~! :D


	15. Strange Bedmates

**Unexpected Changes**

**Chapter fifteen: Strange Bedmates**

**A/N:** University starting + looking for a job + tropical storm Emily passing by + writer's block = Late update + sad Yukai :(

This was much larger, but I wanted to post _something,_ so I split part of what was done and the next chapter will have the rest, okies? For now, this is kind of a filler…

**Warnings: Language, implied situations, fail humor, etc. Plus Francis. Yep, he gets his own warning label…**

**Disclaimer: I may own a cute Lovino Vargas figurine, but I don't own Hetalia.**

* * *

-Recap-

Matthew has survived two days of World Conference Meetings and only has one more day to go before accompanying Arthur to England in search of a cure for her curse. After the high chaos of the first day and a convincing lie that she was Quebec and a substitute for Canada in his absence, things progressed without a problem… until she learned that Gilbert told Elizaveta and Kiku about her secret. Now, five nations are aware that 'Madeline' is Matthew and only one day is left to the World Meeting, but with Matthew's morning going from bad to worse, will she even make it to the end of the day?

* * *

After Elizaveta woke her from her small power-nap, Matthew felt ready to tackle the rest of the day. She was newly refreshed and at ease. When it came down to it, all she had to do was attend the meeting until it finished and then make a beeline for the airport with Arthur. After this whole ordeal was over, everything would go back to the way it was supposed to be and this whole 'Quebec' incident would be but a distant memory. Who knows, maybe she'd look back on the memories and laugh about the whole thing some centuries later. So long as she had a goal in mind, everything else would be easy pickings. 'All journeys begin with the first step' and all that.

So naturally, soon after bidding a 'see you later' to Elizaveta as she got ready, Matthew had a new spring in her step when she left to visit Arthur in his room to pick up her briefcase and to give him some company if he wanted to. She looked forward to the rest of the day. If she kept her head down and fussed over every single detail in the past, she'd never make any progress!

With her back straight and a smile on her face, Canada knocked lightly on the door to her father's room. On the outside, it looked just like any of the other rooms lining the corridor of the 17th floor, but if the violet-eyed girl knew her family like she knew she did, the inside of the room had to be littered with papers on every available surface. Only his nightstand would be clear except for the occasional cup of tea. No matter how many times he tried to do otherwise, unless he did that kind of mess, he "never knew where every specific paper was placed" or something. In every single meeting, his room would be in an 'organized mess' until the night it ended, where England would pack up his papers and repeat the process in his own home. That habit had been present for as long as the girl could remember; even when she was a little colony, she remember rooms full of papers in which the British man could find anything he wanted without the bat of an eye.

"Come in~!"

Matthew shook her head in pure surprise.

What…

That was _not _Arthur's voice…

But she was dead sure she was in the right room! After all, the room number had been 1783 on purpose because Alfred thought it was hilarious, even if she wasn't sure whether Arthur had realized the number was the same as the year the American Revolution ended… Regardless! She remembered the room number perfectly, so who was the owner of that incredibly familiar voice that _didn't_ belong to her father? Matthew followed the command the voice said and inched the door open ever so slightly, realizing it was unlocked all along.

She couldn't see anything clearly with all the lights off, but she could see the shapes of various objects around her as she went deeper inside. Just like her room and Ivan's, the layout was of a living room area with a couch and a television set with a kitchen section to the far left of the room. Deeper inside and dead across from the entrance, a door separated the bedroom from the rest of the hotel room. Because of the dim lighting, Matthew could clearly see the dim lights of what seemed to be candles shining from the bedroom. Hoping that Arthur hadn't decided to invoke in any of his weird magic-circle things he tended to do in the basement of his home in the middle of the day in a foreign hotel room, Matthew pushed any foreboding feelings she had away and walked in.

What she saw next would forever be engraved into the far corners of her mind no matter how much she would try to erase the memory. Honestly, she would've preferred a monster from a deep Abyss called forth by Arthur than what she witnessed.

"EEEKKK! ! MON DIEU! !"

"Ah, Madeline? Well, I was certainly not expecting to see_ you_ here, _mon cher_—"

"Francis, PLEASE put your clothes on! !"

"But why? I must say, I feel quite comfortable~!"

Madeline curled into her knees in the corner farthest from the bed and covered both eyes with her hands, trying not to see the scarring image of one of her parents splayed out atop a bed with nothing but flowers covering his vital regions. No amount of brain bleach in the world would make things right again…

"F-Francis…" Madeline stuttered from her corner, not daring to uncover her eyes, "Why…are you h-here?..."

With his infamous chuckle, Francis had clapped his hands, turning on the lights of the candle-lit room, and appeared before Madeline as he laughed lightly. To her immense relief, Francis was just as fast to take off his clothes as he was to put them on and her eyes were saved from any additional trauma when Francis approached her.

"Well Madeline, you might be part French, but I'm certain you are still British in matters of the heart if you cannot tell my reason for being here at first glance. Listen well!"

'_Oh dear Dieu, Papa has his 'teaching face' on…'_

Canada knew well about the 'teaching face', as did Italy and America from previous encounters with it… Whenever France had the urge to explain anything related to love, he would often go into a very long, _very detailed, _tirade including the very origins of the emotion. Canada had been fortunate enough to have been given to England before France deemed him old enough for this talk, but Canada had heard enough mentions about the event from other once-French colonies like Seychelles. Of course, after Canada's independence, France had cornered the arctic nation after a meeting, slapped his 'teaching face' on, and had the longest and second most awkward talk the Canadian had ever gotten-the most awkward talk being England's version of _'the birds and the bees'_, of course. She needed to divert the topic of the conversation lest she relieve something she didn't want to—at all.

"Well, I don't w-want to keep you—the meeting starts in less than an hour, after all…and I just wanted to get something from Arthur's room—"

"Oh, what a coincidence! _Angleterre_ is the very reason I am here as well~! You see," Francis dropped on the bed with the same delicate flair he used to drink wine, "After breakfast, _Cher_ Arthur seemed worried about something, and what better way to take your mind off something than a passionate, private session with _Moi_ about sweet and exiting s—"

"I-I-I think I get the idea, Francis!" Madeline's face went beet red as she squeaked out her words. Something intrigued her, however. Out of the corner of her eye, well behind Francis' present seat on the bed as he talked about his reason for breaking into Arthur's room, the young woman could see a mess of yellow moving near the nightstand. Only when she focused on it and caught sight of a pair of fuzzy, caterpillar-like blurs did she realize the yellow mess to be Arthur and his eyebrows inching out from under the bed. Thankfully, Francis was too caught up in his story to notice the way Madeline's eye twitched as her jaw slackened. She saw Arthur act out that she wanted her to remain silent about him being there while pointing at Francis, meaning Arthur had hidden from her Papa the entire time. Resisting the urge to turn around and leave her parents to resolve things on their own -but, as Gilbert used to state, she tended to be too kind to even convince herself of doing something like that-, Madeline turned back to her Papa after she interrupted the path his story was taking.

"Um, Fr-Francis, I saw Arthur a few minutes ago arguing with Alfred outside the conference room. I think you might catch him if you hurry…"

"Hm?" Francis glanced upwards at this, "Are you quite certain, Madeline? I've been waiting here almost since breakfast ended specifically so I'd catch him when he returned here to pick up his possessions," he missed the girl's double-take at that statement and all it implied. "All sacrifices are fair in the name of _amour_, after all, and waiting so long for eyebrows o enter his room for at least his briefcase was no bother at all…"

"Uh…"

Now, in Madeline's mind, she had just awoken from a nap a few minutes ago and her brain was still taking its time processing information at full capacity. In other words, it felt too early for her to start bullshitting for lies and excuses when her mind wasn't up to it yet. She had a feeling she was digging a grave, but hadn't she been doing that since day one? So what difference would once more make?

"Th-_That's_ what I said that I wanted to get from his room! For Arthur! Well, since he was in such a heated conversation with Alfred, I thought I'd surprise him by getting his papers, since I thought he'd forget…" Something felt wrong with what she just said, but she couldn't exactly stop to ponder what that was at the moment, "So he won't be by here, since I'm doing it for him. He's been such a big help, since Matthew couldn't attend the conference and everything seems so new to me… He's been kind enough to show me the ropes!..."

The way her Papa smiled unnerved her a bit… Madeline wasn't sure if she convinced him or not…

"But then why would you go through the trouble of knocking on the door when you arrived,_ Mon Cher_?"

'_Oh, crap!'_ Madeline thought in panic, trying her best to not show it on the outside. _'_That's_ what I found wrong with my excuse! Tabernak!'_

"Considering you did this out of your own free will…" France continued, "While _Angleterre_ was busy with _Am__érique_, you either took his key without him noticing or not, but you should've expected this place to be empty when you got here, _Non_? I don't think knocking makes much sense~…"

Francis was having way too much fun with this… Madeline felt like screaming in frustration, and from the looks of it, Arthur wanted to as well, if the way he silently face-palmed and grabbed at his hair was any indication. Madeline had to admit that she messed up. She knew her Papa wasn't dumb, so if she invented some sort of tall-tale, the least she could do was triple check it for any possible holes it might have, but she didn't this time. She probably wouldn't have been able to do so anyways, she couldn't exactly stall for time back when she started lying. She could only thing about one other thing.

"Well… H-How did _y-you_ enter here without a keycard, h-huh?" Madeline spoke a little louder than she wanted to, pointing at Francis, who sat comfortably with his legs crossed on the bed. A vital rule to any convincing cover up: pin the blame about something on someone else. On the low chance that it worked, it can get most people out of tight spots. "I'm certain Arthur didn't give you his spare card!"

As he grinned his hundred-kilowatt smile, Francis reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out a snow-white key card with a bright red lipstick kiss mark on it. If the stark difference from a normal, cerulean-blue room key weren't enough to give away how important it was, the way Francis waved it around like it was a first place trophy certainly did.

"Anything is possible to those willing to work hard enough, _Cherie_. All you need to know is who can be persuaded the easiest!" Francis winked as he stood and leaned closer to Madeline, way too close for comfort in her opinion. "Perhaps you should tell me _your _room number so you can see how good my persuasion skills are~?"

She almost slapped him hard across the face and ran away to ride in a broom closet for the rest of the year as she muttered whatever kids muttered to keep the Pedobear away. Almost. No matter how satisfying it would be to yell at her Papa about how utterly _wrong _that was, she couldn't if she wanted nothing to slip out about Madeline being Matthew. Arthur had just stared in disbelief from his hiding spot from behind the bed and the nightstand. He mouthed Madeline if she wanted him to grab the lamp on it and smash Francis over the head with it, but Madeline got a brilliant plan forming in the back of her mind that was way too delicious to pass up, and it'd be much more satisfying than smashing her dear Papa over the head with hotel property they could be fined for later.

"You don't say… I think it'd _love_ to see those skills in action…" she ignored the way Francis smirk grew slightly and Arthur's look of pure and utter mortification at her words, "Maybe you'd like to go ahead to my room and get ready to show me how different a French approach is from a…" here she twirled one of her hair strands in her finger as cutely as she could, "Quebecois one..?" Hell if she knew anything about how girls could be seductive or attractive, she never paid those kinds of things the amount of attention other nations did, and she didn't spend her time 'checking chicks out' back when she was a boy, so she was just winging it. She tried to imitate all those actresses she'd see in Alfred's family movie nights she was dragged to every six months or so. Hopefully, it didn't look as fake as she felt while she did it. "I'm room 3218, by the way…"

"Oh, is that so?" Francis grabbed Madeline's hand and placed a small kiss on the back of it (unaware of the way Arthur fought back his gag reflexes), "Then if you'll excuse my rudeness, I just remembered an important matter that deserves my attention. I hope to see you _quite _soon, _Mademoiselle_."

Only after Matthew was sure she heard the main door close and she no longer could hear the sound of shoes walking away from the room did she let out the breath she had been holding. Just as quickly, she turned to Arthur and proceeded to nearly yell at him. "What the hell was _that _about? ! Why were you under the freaking _bed? !_"

"Never mind that!" Arthur finally stood at full height and dusted himself from everything possible that might've been caught up in the floor's carpet. "What the bloody hell where you thinking? ! There's _no way _I'm letting you meet up with the frog alone in your room under any circumstances!"

"Well, of course I'm not meeting up with him. Who do you think I am, some kind of sex-deprived and highly naïve nation? I said that so he'd leave!" Matthew huffed after she sat down on the bed. "And what about you? Did you really hide under the bed the entire time he was here?"

Arthur looked to the side. "Well, it's not like I had much of a choice…" Arthur scratched his cheek while he blushed lightly, not unlike Alfred tended to do from time to time, "The first time he knocked I had finished a light shower and was just about to dress when he suddenly barged in with that blasted key he most likely persuaded from a cleaning staff member. I panicked and dove for the safest place I could find, which happened to be closet. Next thing I know the insufferable buffoon leaves to 'freshen up' but returns shortly after I finally finish dressing…"

"…So you went for the bed." Matthew finished after Arthur trailed off in his words. After a short silence, the Canadian surprised the other by breaking out into a laugh.

Arthur glared over his shoulder, "I can hardly see what you find so funny."

"Hahaha…Well, you hid under a bed! And for so long, too! What's _not_ funny about that? And Papa didn't notice you? At all?" asked the younger nation, taking the chance to kick off her shoes near the wall to place both feet above the bed. She caught the way Arthur tried not to meet her eyes with his own as he moved about to pick up his material for the meeting today.

"It wasn't easy. 'Burn off what I eat' my arse. He was blooming heavy, nearly cracked my back… And here you are, making fun of my misfortune-"

"You _do _know I could've left you to suffer Papa's overwhelming affection if I wanted to, eh?" Matthew cut in, raising an eyebrow behind her glasses.

"You couldn't."

The plainly stated sincerity Arthur used surprised her a little, but she knew he was right. After all, she needed her briefcase, Arthur still had to take care of the counter-potion, and Matthew herself was too nice to really leave her father in Francis' unreliable hands.

After some minutes in which Arthur collected his necessary papers from the enormous mess of them scattered all over the room and nicely catching her briefcase once Arthur threw it at her, both nations made their way outside the room. As Arthur made sure the door was correctly locked, Matthew asked something that was bugging her a little for a while now.

"France's turn to present was yesterday, right?"

"That's right. Why do you ask?" Arthur pocketed his card key and led the way, Matthew not too far behind. Even if he could see her face, he could hear her smile in the next words.

"Oh nothing. I'm just curious about how long Francis will be detained inside that room I sent him to…"

* * *

He had to admit, Madeline drove a hard bargain. He, quite obviously, arrived inside the room long before Madeline was supposed to, and that was an incredibly good thing. It was an utter mess, hardly presentable for even a high school sleepover between girlfriends! It took him a while to set the place up to have a romantic mood, but alas, it was nothing the flamboyant nation couldn't do. Paris wasn't called _'The City of Love'_ only because it was his most vital region, after all.

Before long, he could hear the tell-tale sound of the front door being opened by a card key and couldn't help but grin at what was sure to come. He was sitting on the couch nearest to the door, blending perfectly well in the dimmed environment.

"I must admit, this was a challenge, even for someone as passionate as me, but the image of your overwhelming gratitude at this surprise kept me going strong. I hope you are ready," he couldn't help but grin a little bit more as he stood before the door with a grand motion, "For both of us to become one in the name of_ l'amour_!"

Just then, the lights were switched on by the owner of the room and Francis couldn't stop the shock and fear from showing perfectly on his face.

"What a surprise~! I came back to get my papers for the meeting, but this is much better!" Ivan smiled his infamous childish smile as the aura surrounding him got slightly darker, "You have the honor of becoming one with me then, da?"

Francis went white as a sheet. _'Mon Dieu…'_

Ivan locked his hotel door after slipping on the 'do not disturb' sign on the handle outside the door. "A pleasant surprise indeed~! Kol kol kol kol kol…"

"_A-A-A-__Aidez-moi! !_"

* * *

**A/N:** Aw~, it's like Russia got an early birthday present! :D

**Okay! Answers to some questions**! A lot of them can't have straight answers without giving away some spoilers, but I'll try my best for other questions.

Let's see…_Canada doesn't have a crush on Hungary,_ but he has grown to care deeply for her, like an older sister he never had! Even if this story's Canada has a grown relation with Ukraine, I don't think any other nation in the world would understand Canada's position as much as Hungary can, what with her 'I'm a boy, now I'm not' puberty-change thing.

Prussia was said to hate Russia to a point of coughing up blood upon physical contact sometimes, but it was said that he did no-paying-odd-jobs while with him, and _no statements of harm or abuse or torture were made clear_. Sure Russia is mentally tilted and has been shown to harm the Baltics, but I don't want Russia to be this walking, killing, sadistic dude that goes pipe-crazy when he feels like it. I mean, look at the guy! He's adorable when he's happy! :D

For Ukraine using Japanese when she glomped Russia…that's a good question! I don't know how to put it exactly… In the anime, when Ukraine calls Russia, she says Russia-chan, even in her **Character song with Belarus (Carrot and Stick is the song recommendation this time~), **but in a situation like that, when she's freaking out, I made her try to show affection by adding the –chan at the end. If there was a (reliable) Ukrainian equivalent, I would've loved to use it, but Japanese was the only thing I could think of… _So it was more of an Author's slip kind of thing rather than Ukraine using Japanese cause she prefers it_, like Italy does with Germany, calling him 'Doitsu' from time to time in other fanfics (and in here :D) because he would think it sounds cuter.

I have to work on Sadik3000's oneshot (it's going to be pretty long and CanadaxNordics centered :D) plus I have to do everything I mentioned at the top…sigh…but I won't give up on this, even if updates are late, rest assured!


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